A Mutated Existence
by simba317
Summary: ROMY! It can be sure that life is one wild ride what with a deadly virus, double agents, super powers, school, teenage life, mutant haters, a big extended family, evil villains, finding love...? Hey, it's just the life of an XMan! Focus on Romy, others!
1. Blossomings

**Disclaimer:** I don't own X-Men Evolution or any of the X-Men. They belong to Marvel. So don't sue, because I can't pay you. I just got inspired to write my interpretation of their stories. So, whatever.

**Author's Notes:** My first fan fiction. I hope you enjoy. Please review and be nice. It is a ROMY, so all you obsessed Romy fans out there, this is the one for you. This story will basically show the build up of their love from their first meetings. I will also cover my version of the Acolytes joining the X-Men and Wanda also, eventually. Even though this will be a Romy centered piece, I also want to write what I think will be a sort of Season 5: X-Men Evolution. So there will be other couples, pairings and characters, although they'll be more of a supporting cast. Some being Kiotr, Johnda, Kurmanda, Bobbilee (sounds funny and I love saying it) and some other of the new recruit pairings, oh yeah and > Jott> . I hope my ficcie will be better than a normal Evo ep, cause let's face it they sometimes are lame, for their lack of reality or continuity with the real world and the actual Mavel characters. However, I do like what they did with Rogue, because with her powers, I could totally see her acting like that. Oh, yeah and I'm writing Jean as nice, maybe a little too goody goody but still nice, Rogue may be annoyed by her but she does not hate Jean, nor Scott. I enjoy any form of Jott bashing individual or otherwise, but get annoyed and despise it when they are not portrayed accurately. Jean and Rogue are like sisters that don't always get along and just about always have differences and fights, but it does not make them love each other less. They can put aside their differences for the sake of their family and envy each other for what the other has. They are on friendly, civil, if not speaking terms. Scott is like her protective older brother, annoying, and overly protective, opposed to change as he is a control freak! Rogue may have had a crush on him, but now thinks of him more of as a good friend or brother. Guess, what? I just made Jott sound like they were performing an act on incest…hehehe… Just as an early warning, Rogue and Remy will not love each other immediately or have feelings for each other more than slight infatuation or interest in the beginning. Their relationship will build starting as FRIENDS. I like the Romyness love at first sight thing, but it's just not for me to write. I'm changing their outfits and uniforms a little, since they're kind of ugly. Feel free to tell me to correct any grammatical errors on my part. I'm a perfectionist, I hate it when I make grammatical errors, so please point it out and I will fix them and repost. Oh, and I'll try my best with the accents.

Anyway, now that I have bored you to death with my note, the story:

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: BLOSSOMINGS**

**_When Ah look back now, Ah wonder, did Ah fall for you then? Ah remember yoah eyes, deep pools of ruby surrounded by onyx. You broke through mah walls, and warmed my core, seeing me for who I was with just one look. Ah was captured, lost and hypnotized by yoah gaze. Where you by mine? _**

_**This she wondered as she thought back in her life…**_

* * *

**_I'member your eyes from the very first, your emeralds shone through my soul and imprinted your visage into my heart. You seemed to mesmerize me. I chose not to believe that perhaps you had stolen dis t'ieve's heart dat day, but I still see your rich cinnamon locks, framed by the purest white dat fateful day…_**

_**This he reminisced as he thought back in his life…**_

_**

* * *

**_

That fateful day. Yes, that day when they met was, perhaps not the most romantic by any standards, but they had left an impression in each other's souls that would be etched so deeply that no mortal hand could undo. She, untouchable, cold, lost and masked and he, cocky, mesmerizing, dark and mysterious met as foes. Each powerful, each hidden behind a façade, and yet each was lost deep down. He, needed to find his home, his heart, his soul, niche and heart and redemption, and she needed to find who she really was under all the false pretenses and masks, and she needed to find a trust in someone and herself.

So thus, they squared off, each to his own, a powerful mutant, a cache of power.

The sky was clear, the town peaceful and yet malignity was stirring. They were going for blood, for war that day, with allies formed from the Brotherhood, against Magneto. The X-Men were already without some of their strongest members like Wolverine, who had been captured by Trask and Cyclops who was at the Institute with the new recruits. The setting was the industrial district, by an old, run down wear house. Crates lined the area behind it, setting up ideal defensive hiding areas.

Rogue, the lonely Goth girl with an antisocial streak and an attitude to match wandered away from the battle waging against the X-Men and the new group of mutants, the Acolytes, recruitments of Magneto. One was colossal, tall and dark with a steel shell to match, Colossus, another was insane, hyper and uncontrollable, with a liking to the flame and an attitude that could only be described as bipolar, ADHD or whatever psychologists call crazy people. Of coarse, one of the last ones emerging from his metal chamber was the ever annoying, always insufferable, Sabertooth. Lastly, was Gambit, slyly and without notice, he too slipped away from the battle to face the intriguing Rogue, after waging a duel for quite some time. His dark auburn hair swirled around his stubbled aristocratic face and oh, what a face it was. His red on black eyes burned with eagerness at the task at hand. The rugged manly, yet Elven features of his handsome face were impassive. An ever present smirk twisted his lips.

* * *

At the start of the battle the X-Men and Brotherhood had scattered due to the onslaught of Gambit's charged cards raining over their heads and causing explosions that hindered movement and eyesight. And so they went separate ways, hoping to gain some sort of advantage on what Scarlet Witch had already proclaimed to her twin as a trap, moments before the starting fire.

* * *

Colossus stood tall and the metal of his body reflected the light, giving him a god-like appearance due to his height, rippling muscles and stature. The Russian giant had stepped out of his metal pod and was currently bringing the muscle to Magneto's campaign. He was handsome, his grey-blue eyes were cool and impassive, and his dark hair gelled, so that it was swept up military style and despite the situation, and one could see his heart wasn't in the battle fully. A pair of thick, slightly baggy, olive green military style cargo pants, stuffed into a pair of thick, black leather combat boots, adorned the lower half of his body. A black muscle shirt showed off his huge metaled up arms and over top, he wore what appeared to a brick red chest plate that protected his torso and back that had leather straps down the sides that revealed his black muscle shirt. Black wrist cuffs completed his ensemble. 

He battled the X-Men relentlessly and was obviously overpowering the members of both teams. Toad did nothing but to annoy the giant by hopping about, Shadowcat did her best to avoid attacks by phasing through him at every chance. The ever persistent Toad tried to hurl himself at the might Colossus, but was ripped right off by the giant's strength, failing miserably. Blob, seeing this, body slams Colossus and is hurled into the wall of the warehouse. Using this to her advantage, Shadowcat phases the leviathan man into the warehouse and calls on Avalanche to let 'er rip, causing the entire building to collapse on Colossus.

Just as they are about to celebrate, Colossus, emerges from his rubble prison, unscathed to the surprise of his inferior opponents, who prepare for round two of their skirmish.

Surprisingly, the giant walks away and leaves, leaving the team of mutants confused and bewildered.

* * *

Pyro was insane. 

The Acolytes' resident pyromaniac wore a full brick red body suit, that resembled a handy worker's, except better fitted with orange detailing and padding on his chest, arms and legs. A red head dress like that of Jean Grey's made his flaming orange hair spike upwards and a visor over his eyes protected him from burns to his face. His black gloves and boots were fairly long and had dark blue padding on it. A large tank of gasoline was strapped to his back with tubes connecting to his gloves, in which he could shoot his flamethrower and manipulate the fire. All of his clothing was flame-retardant. His green eyes were alight with a mischievous glint.

"Haha, lookit them birdies dance," he cackled manically, seriously creeping out everyone in the vicinity as he shot the flames from his fully loaded flame thrower out onto the battlefield and using his powers to manipulate them to chase Quicksilver and to corner Spyke and Jean Grey. His flames spurred great mayhem and the heat was quickly overpowering his opponents.

The flames then twisted and transformed into a dragon, which towered above the X-Men and struck fear into their hearts. It circled and danced around them, slowly closing in. Pyro was taking his sweet time in letting the X-Men suffer. Mayhem traveled wherever Pyro left his touch. He laughed like a lunatic during this.

That is, until the weather goddess that is Strom stepped into the fray.

"You will stop this madness, NOW!" she bellowed to the winds, which met her call and sent a torrent of rain falling to the ground and putting out his beloved flames.

He let out an anguished cry and shrieked, "Moy flamies, moy precious flamies, not moy flamies! You murderer! What did moy innocent flamies evah do ta ya? Ya flame killah! Screw you!" Yup, he was now hysterical and in mourning of his now deceased flames.

Storm took this as her cue to send a bolt of lightning down to fry his flamethrower, causing the now useless pyromaniac to become incensed. To add to injury, his once spiked up flames for hair, was now sopping wet and hung in ungodly chunks that hugged his pained face over the loss of his 'precious flamies.'

He walked away defeated without further trouble on the part of the X-Men, which not only shocked, but unnerved them.

* * *

The animal-like beast engages in battle with Sabretooth. Seeing it upon himself to beat to crap out of the mangy cat as Wolverine was not present to do so himself. He would have made Wolvie proud, maybe even tear, to see the precise way in which he was beating the bejeezus out of the unhygienic wild man. 

Sabretooth wore a furry, smelly outfit that consisted of a tunic, scratchy pants and a long fur coat. His long shaggy blond hair was unkempt as always.

Just as the Beast was about to win the battle against the feisty feline, Sabes kicks it into gear and made the brawl interesting. He shoved off the bestial mutant and prepares to launch an attack, only to befuddle Beast by stalking off in the other direction.

* * *

Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler faced the hand full that was Gambit. Hexing the Cajun gave way to limited success and every time the frustrated Nightcrawler tried to advance and attack the Acolyte via teleportation, Gambit would move out of the way with an inhuman stealth and agility, whacking the annoyed German with his trusty and purposeful Bo staff. 

"Mein Gott, stay still, you," yelled a pissed off Kurt.

The tricky Cajun wore a tight dark red T-shirt which showed of the muscles of his lean frame under a sort of black Ocean's 11 inspired vest (you know, kinda like the one Matt Damon and George Cloony wear while in the elevator shaft only way cooler) The cunning thief wore a black head dress, like that of Pyro's, which ran the length of his cheek bones and then straight down to encircle his handsome face and cover his neck. His black cargo pants with many pockets that stored some of his thieving items and cards and was stuffed into his long, totally badass looking black leather padded boots that were a combination of biker boots and combat boots, only thicker and with padding. (To the artist of Gambit on Evo, what the hell is up with his boots?) A thick midnight blue belt encircled his waist and clipped to it was his weapon of choice, his Bo staff. Also, he wore a pair of black leather gloves with some fingers cut off. He also wore a pair of studded leather wrist cuffs on his wrists. Gambits unruly hair floated in the air sexily as did his trademark brown trench coat with many hidden pockets.

His red on black eyes burned as he attacked the two frustrated mutants with a showering of cards or whatever he could charge. He easily avoided Scarlet Witch's hex bolts with his speed and agility and kept Nightcrawler at bay too with his quick reflexes, superior fighting skills and speed.

If it were under different circumstances, both Kurt and Wanda would of enjoyed watching Gambit fight with such grace, poise and agility and had elements of martial arts and gymnastics incorporated into his fighting, giving him a almost cat-like movement, but his was totally annihilating them with it so they were understandably not enjoying it and growing more frustrated by the moment. What made it worse was the fact that one could tell that Gambit was merely toying with them. He was a firestorm of cards, flips, kicks, punches and explosions. Remy was truly enjoying this moment for he could feel their frustration flowing off them.

With one last maneuver, Gambit charged crates, boxes and cards and chucked them at the now frustrated mutants and left, disappearing to do greater and better things, like fight that girl who hadn't tasted the battle this day yet. He could never miss meeting all the belle femmes and she was no different, for he could tell that underneath all that war paint, she was a beauty, perhaps more so than the other women he had seen thus far because of her demeanor.

The two frustrated mutants emerged from the hailstorm of explosions and as the dust settled, were totally lost and confused as the Cajun was nowhere in sight. They had to admit he was one slick guy and had beaten them badly.

* * *

Gambit saw her as he rounded the corner to the crates which lined the industrial area, where they were fighting in. Her pale skin gave her an ethereal glow which only accentuated her bold emerald eyes, determined chin and jaw and most unnatural hair. Slightly styled chin length auburn hair, with pure white bangs that framed her beautiful face. She wore a black body suit with yellow gloves and an obscured green X over her chest. A yellow belt with large silver X belt buckle hung around her hips. Big black hobnailed combat boots, and the X's at her shoulders completed the outfit. Rogue had strategically planned to hide behind the crates and ambush anyone who came back here. She knew she could take anyone out with her excellent combat skills and lethal touch. However, unbeknownst to her, she was dealing with Gambit. 

Gambit the Prince of Thieves sauntered over to engage her in battle. But unknown to him, a force beckons him to her. He finally felt the effect his hypnotizing eyes had on others, when he looked up into her green depths. He stopped, leaned in and wondered what it would be like to kiss those perfect puplish burgundy lips of hers, forgetting the battle.

Rogue the Untouchable Goth stalks to engage him in battle. But unknown to her, a force lures her to him. She looks into his eyes and wonders at how a pair of eyes can charm her so, despite their unusual coloring. She stops leans in and hypnotized and wonders what it would be like to kiss that smirk off his striking face, forgetting the battle.

A card held in his hand, the King of Hearts, a reflection of him, was nearly forgotten as he grew millimeters away from her face. Suddenly, he, the first one to break from that mysterious spell, remembers the battle and hands her the card, now charged in his hand. She, still spellbound by his charming gaze, retrieves the glowing card from his hand, now slightly pinkish red.

Gambit walked away reluctantly.

Rogue, finally snapping from her reverie, notices the glow and heat emanating from the card. She realized the danger and tosses it, hearing and seeing the explosion before her take out a row of crates.

Gambit hopes he didn't blow off her hand or worse. He doesn't think he could live with himself if he did.

* * *

It was as trap, as Scarlet Witch had so plainly stated at the start of battle. Some of the X-Men and Brotherhood members would be caught by the Sentinels which emerged later into battle, and Rogue was one of them. However, all were eventually rescued from the clutches of Trask and the infamously legendary Area 51. All except a double crossing Mystique who was left to rot and plot her schemes by the surprisingly shifty Scott Summers, who had suddenly grew a backbone or had a rush of male ego via testosterone, but that's beside the point. (ta-da, your daily dose of Scott-bashing) 

The world would soon know of the mutant phenomenon and anti-mutant sentiments would only rise from then on, due the damage and destruction caused by the battle and the overwhelming media coverage. They were truly ousted and made outcasts of society.

Their home would be destroyed and the children of the Xavier Institute would soon feel the hate and suppression that other races had felt in the long history of human segregation and racism. They would be the new Jews and Blacks. The most hated race. A succubus of the gene pool and humans themselves they were, as the ignorant thought. They would feel the wrath of mankind and must fight for their right to even live and breathe freedom, like a true oppressed race. But they would ban together, gain members and fight for their rights to life as we are all entitled to.

* * *

And so began the start of their relationship. The spell had been broken and though they had been imprinted into each other's soul and essence, the love had yet to grow and emerge from within. It was not love at first sight. It was something more precious and valuable burying itself within their hearts and waiting to emerge. 

Both would remember the experience in vivid detail but would not realize the moment the spark was lit between them. They would believe the other attractive and good looking, but those feelings were weak and not even up to the status of a bona fide crush. They would feel a mutual interest toward each other without knowing its true extent for some time. Although they thought of each other occasionally it was more along the lines of curiosity as to why they had forgotten their orders for the moment and felt that undenaiable pull to each other. Both had other worries, other problems, other duties and the memory soon went to the backburners and went on hold. Both saw it as the 'oh, he's cute, will never see him/her again,' thought of someone walking down the street, but not worth pursuing. However, both intrigued the other. They did not know that this was the start of their history, their story…

* * *

Here we are the first chappie all done and ready to review. Please review and be kind. Up next will be **CHAPTER TWO: INTRIGUE. **I'll try to get it out in the next few days or week. Not much Romyness, I know, but it will increase, so will the couple fluff. I just loved writing St. John. Just be patient and reviews do _help_. -Looks around shiftily.- 

Thanks.

Simba317


	2. Intrigue

**Disclaimer: **The characters and X-Men Evolution do not belong to me. This is just my spin on the show. They belong to Marvel. So do not sue me.

**Authors Notes: **Here we are, my second chapter. Just to make it clear, I will start the more original stuff after probably this chapter or the next. I'm kinda building up the Romy here. However, you of faint heart must be patient. They will** NOT** be all 'I love you' right away. It will take time. They will push each other away. Both will be rejected. Both will not like each other and dismiss the other, in the beginning. I hope I didn't totally butcher their accents. –cringe- Please review and be nice. I'm trying to put my spin on the X-Men series before doing my original stuff to stay true to the timeline. I'll try to fit everything in this chapter before moving along to greater and better things. So it'll be a really long two chapter combo to get rid of the old stuff and put in original ideas in Chapter Three.

**Shout Outs:**

**Funkydomino: **I will try for more Pyro moments, but this is a Romy and I'll try to include as much as I can for him and I apologize if there's not enough in this chappie. And yes I am sort of rewriting all the main Romy moments and I was so incredibly disappointed that they didn't include Gambit more and that there were no Romy moments that were good, except for Cajun Spice and their first meeting. Thanks for the review.

**Chica De Los Ojos Café: Thanks for the review it was greatly appreciated and sweet. **

**EvilWhiteRaven: You're too sweet. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate that.**

**Ishandahalf: Jumps around. Whoopee, I got a review from Ish. (Mom looks at me like I'm psycho) **I'm a huge fan, -gushing-, thanks for the review.

**Agent-G: **Yes, I know, I wasn't really planning to be original just yet, but I really want to follow the Evo time line. I will have an original plot and everything after the 2nd or 3rd chapters. I promise you. I enjoy the bantering that goes on between the two. So I will keep them off each other just for all the burns and lines I can put in. However, they will end up together, because I hate it with a passion when they spend a long time apart. It bugs the hell out of me. I must admit after I read your review, I started on the second chappie. If you don't like regurgitation of facts, just skip this and read the next chappie. I kinda put my own spin and insight into it or I try that is. It is my first after all. Gotta start somewhere. And I don't like regurgitation either. Thanks for reviewing.

**Guarded Secrets: **Thanks for the support. Encouragement really helps.

I'd especially like to thank Agent-G for his constructive criticism, it was greatly appreciated and helped me decide to combine two chapters so as to move the plot forward and create my original material.

**Ookie, on with the story. **

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER TWO: INTRIGUE**

Well, being a mutant really sucks. The protesters, bigots, government, propaganda can really get to you and make you hate yourself. And that was what they had felt coming back to Bayville as further outcasts than they already were. Protestors had stormed the school, recognizing them. They slandered the teens with derogatory statements and jeered them. Hundreds of men and women who were on friendly terms with the teenagers before this occurrence had now become a hive of angry bees swarming the X-Men and stirring the anti-mutant pot.

Rogue just could not take it any more. She had it with the bigots, slandering, vandalism and violence which had suddenly erupted in the once peaceful city of Bayville. She need out of this environment and she needed it now. So she went outside to catch a breather in the front courtyard.

Only to see Evan trying, operative word being 'trying', to do the same. Only problem was, that he was being hassled by the Bayville High resident Goons and Bigots Club, the football jocks.

"Dude, just leave me alone. I've never done anything to you, man, c'mon. Let up," he reasoned with them.

But reasoning alone to these dense, ignorant people was useless. "Yeah, ya did, the day you crawled out and polluted the gene pool. You mutie scum!" they jeered.

Rogue knew this was not a good situation and she needed to end this before the problems jetted up to be unstoppable. She started to run over and confront the goons and get Evan out of his predicament, when suddenly, he snapped and had enough of their rude, ignorant comments. Everyone truly knew his namesake of Spyke as his bone spikes shot out of his body in anger.

"We're tellin' Kelly on you, you freak! You and your mutie friends will get expelled and then this school will be free of your tainted gene pool," countered the pathetic jocks.

Rogue immediately rushes over to stop the situation from getting out of hand, exclaiming, "C'mon, Evan, they're naught worth it. Just retrahct them and we'll deal with them the way the Professah taught us, 'cause we're better than that."

"I know, girl, it's just when I get angry, this just kinda happens and I can't retract them. Trust me, I'm trying," stated even desperately.

"C'mon, Evan, Ah know you can do it."

"I'm trying, Rogue, I'm trying." The desperation was evident in his drawn out voice.

"Aww, now isn't this cute. The mutie scum can't control their useless powers. I wonder what bitchy Goth girl can do," heckled one of the jocks.

"A lot more than ya think, but Ah doan exactly want your bigot comments in mah head, you freaking racists!" defended Rogue.

"You wanna say it to my face, you scum"

"What, is yoah vocabulary so low and yoah brain so small, you cahn't even think of another name ta call us."

"Oh, you wanna fight now, fur-reak," yelled a jock.

"Look, man, we don't want trouble, just back away," said Evan, trying to do some damage control, "Just let it go, Rogue."

"Alraht, but these nutcases deserve what's comin' ta them," said a calming down Rogue.

"They will. Let's go, then," said Evan.

"Oh, you're not goin' anywhere until this school is free of all the freaks like you."

Both Rogue and Evan saw the dire situation and saw that they were backed into a corner. They looked at each other in fear. What could they do?

* * *

Not only had Gambit, Prince of Thieves, have to deal with the increased mutant tensions, he also had to deal with whiny teenager that just got expelled and it was not pretty and at a high school, none the less. Magneto did not pay him enough to be his errand boy, doing his dirty work. They probably wouldn't even show at the assigned meeting spot, the lazy bums. He was a Master Thief, damn it, he did not do other people's dirty work, namely Magneto's. Sure, he had defeated the boy easily, but whether or not he was smart enough to do what he was told, he wasn't sure. Whatever. He was angry because he lost precious time, time to which he could be in the company of a belle femme. Oh, what he did for money and he _still_ had more babysitting to do.

This was his mood as he started to round the corner, only to spot Rogue and Evan surrounded by a group of mutant hating thugs. He knew he had to step in before the situation escalated and injuries were inflicted. It would not look good on either side, especially the mutants, they had just been allowed to go to school here and the thugs were trying to push them off the already thin line they walked on.

Gambit collected himself and stealthily stalked over to converse with the jerks, making sure his dark sunglasses were still in place.

* * *

He tapped a thug on the shoulder and said menacingly, "Hey, homme, don't mess with mutants," and with that he lowered his glasses slowly and revealed his fierce red on black demon eyes to which the boys balked and scattered.

As they fled, they could be heard saying, "It's the devil, the devil!"

"Yeah, yeah, hommes, run," stated Gambit amusedly.

"Just what the hell do ya think ya doin'?" questioned Rogue, angrily.

"Oh, just saving a fellow mutants hide, chere. What is it, illegal?"

"It should be with ya. You're just one of Magneto's thugs."

"Well, ya just an annoying X-Man. What's ya problem with me anyway? Honestly, ya are _way _too confrontational and ungrateful."

"Well, Ah'm sorrah if Ah cahn't just flash my freaky red eyes every time some thug tries ta heckle me."

"Touché, cherie, I'm gone. I only go where I'm 'preciated."

"You're appreciated?"

"Rogue, girl, I'm just gonna return to class now, K?" stated Evan nervously, trying to break up the argument.

"Kay, Ah'll see ya at home, then," replied Rogue, the argument with Gambit stopped for the moment.

"See ya," responded Evan with a small wave as he picked up his things and headed back into the school.

"What are ya doin heah, anyway?" questioned Rogue, trying to garner information. Gambit just rubbed her the wrong way. He was cocky, arrogant and had an 'I'm god's gift to women' attitude. He just annoyed her to no end. Or maybe it was because he was the first person to really stand up for her when she needed it.

"Well, chere, dat's for me to know," countered Gambit. He just didn't get her. He had just saved herself and her friend from a potentially dangerous circumstance and she was acting as if he had wronged her in some way. She was too stubborn and independent for her own good. Perhaps he was just surprised, because she was the first woman to ever resist his charms. Well, he thought, you can't charm them all.

"I'm not yoah 'chere', so drop it and Ah know ya up ta no good."

"So what if I am, _cherie_, what are ya gonna do 'bout it?" He countered as he turned and walked away from her, amusedly.

"Like, Rogue, what was that about?" asked Kitty as she appeared on the scene after hearing the ruckus that had been caused by the people outside.

"Ah doan know, Kit. All of a sudden he comes out, and scares off the thugs hasslin' meh and Evan and the next, he's stalkin' off doin' God knows what for Old Buckekthead," responsed Rogue.

"We should, like, tell Scott and, like, follow him," suggested Kitty.

"We doan have enough time, Kit, his trails getting' cold. We'll take this into our own hands," rebutted Rogue.

She dragged off a protesting Shadowcat with her and left the premises to follow Gambit's retreating figure.

Remy, in turn, knew they were there, and following him, but he couldn't afford to waste more time. Besides, it would be interesting to see what would happen, now that the two belle looking X-Men girls were following him. After all, he despised going to the Brotherhood house and getting the B-Hood Boys to carry out Mag's 'great plan.' Well, at least he didn't have to carry it out. This would turn out to be fun for the Master Thief. He always loved stringing people along.

* * *

That day, Gambit had gotten the Brotherhood Boys to snatch their newly appointed leader, Quicksilver from where he had been captured. However, he had to have some fun and that's where Kitty and Rogue came in. They had been led on a somewhat wild goose chase, which led them to battle, hunger, and grim. Both had been in filthy and disgusting places, such as a meat transport truck. Not only that, they had both been grounded.

* * *

Yes, the build up of their relationship was definitely not smooth and other changes would occur to shape and change them before both would truly acknowledge their feeling towards each other and act upon it. Needless to say neither was attracted to the other after this chance meeting. They were less attractive to each other than a thorn in the backside, a simple annoyance.

And yet, the changes of their lives still needed to shape them before their relationship could truly begin and thus, the world was plunged in the darkness that is Apocalypse. They needed to change and evolve to see how much they truly needed and meant to each other.

* * *

Life goes on, for it waits for no one. For Rogue it was no different. Sure school still sucked, but is was as if the increased mutant hating hysteria just caused her to work harder in class and prove everyone wrong. She was an intelligent girl; she just had to apply herself. However, everyone at the Institute was walking on needles. The environment was tense. No one dared go out alone, except the burly Wolverine. Who'd be stupid enough to cross him?

Rogue felt that she was in a pressure cooker and felt that soon the pressure would increase so much that she would explode. Her psyches were acting up and giving her terrible migraines every now and then. She did not know what to do to quell them and keep them at bay. On top of that her long time crush, Scott, had finally asked to go out with Jean, and the two were now officially dating. Although Rogue was somewhat over him, it still hurt her to see him finally choose the perfect Ms. Jean Grey. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't hate Jean or Scott, after all, they were somewhat like her family, she had though of both as more siblings or good friends recently and her crush on Scott had receded. The Institute may have been like her family, but she was like the reclusive introvert who did secret stuff and never left her room, so people didn't know much about her.

It was better that way, having minimal people get close to her. She felt she was destined to live a life alone and she couldn't afford to hurt anyone, especially Kurt, Kitty, Logan and the inhabitants of the Institute; she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did. No one could get too close and she let down her guards to a select few she trusted and bonded with even fewer.

Logan and she were kindred spirits. They understood each other in an unspoken way. Both tended to be loners and recluses. No one knew much about them and they liked it that way. He was like a father to her; a mentor. He never cut her any slack, but he did extra things to show he cared like teaching her extra fighting techniques, because she was the most vulnerable to attack. Her powers only allowed for close range attack and the effect of a psyche could be devastating to her.

As unlikely as it seemed, Kitty, not Risty, was her best friend. There was just so much she could tell Kitty that she couldn't tell Risty. For all their similarities in interests and style, it was Kitty she was closer to for the sheer fact that they spent so much time together bonding and talking at night when no one thought they were up. Kitty was definitely not the stereotypical Valley girl everyone thought her to be. She had a brain and used it. She masked herself in a Valley girl visage, just as Rogue did with her Goth stereotype. Rogue used her stereotype to be reclusive and dark; to be able to repel all those that might hurt her or those to which she would cause harm.

Kurt was her pal, her buddy who made her laugh whenever she was down. He was the only one who lifts her from her moods when she was depressed and he was just too cute to refute when he asked something of her. His joker, care free attitude to life often pulled her from the pits of her holes. He was not frightened away by her nature, like Kitty and Logan weren't. They had a bond that Rogue could not yet explain the nature of and it was not romantic in any way.

In the beginning, she and Scott had been close, since he was the only one who trusted her when she joined, however, their relationship waned with her crush and need to space herself from him, in order not to hurt him. He thought of her as a sister anyway, so it did not matter. His flame for Jean did not help matters and his goals to lead the team also dug a trench between them.

Jean and she were often at ends with each other, but no matter how different they were not enemies or rivals. They were like sisters who fought constantly but love each other nonetheless. Both could put aside their differences for their family and take a stand as a united front if trouble stirred. Rogue saw her as a friend, if not somewhat annoying.

Evan was a good friend who stood at the edge of her defenses. She only ever let Logan, Kitty and Kurt within her fortress and occasionally the Professor. He too was a joker like Kurt.

Ororo was always motherly to her and all the children of the institute and Rogue definitely saw her as one. Her former mother figures had all abandoned her in some way and Ororo had proven time and time again, she was not like that. The former weather goddess was honorable like that. She guided the children and Rogue too, when she asked for it and left her to her business, which Rogue appreciated greatly.

The Professor was grandfatherly and she thought of him as one. He was kind and wise and he always guided his children to success. He had a belief and stuck to it, no matter how difficult it was to achieve and Rogue admired him for it. He gave those like her a home and a place to feel accepted, even though she was reclusive in nature. Xavier allowed her to try and gain control of her curse, and no matter how many times she gave up, he always kept on trying to help her and encourage her, giving her hope for the future.

They new recruits had made the mansion seem smaller, louder and more annoying, but each of them had bonded in some way, though small and she saw them all as friends she could rely on occasion.

* * *

So she stepped into the heart of the mutant hating universe or Bayville High on Monday morning preparing for the worst, what she didn't expect was the reemergence of her friend Risty and her finally telling Risty who she really was. It had been wonderful to finally tell her the truth and Rogue felt that she could finally further their friendship after this because she understood. Risty even convinced Rogue to go to the concert of one of their favorite bands which were coming that night to cheer her up after a display of Scott and Jean's blossoming affection for each other.

She was losing herself in a torrent of psyches and betrayal. Risty wasn't her friend, it was just Mystique, betraying her, lying to her, and manipulating her, again. She was so lost. No to trust, no one was her friend. They were all liars. The psyches were fighting for control, they all wanted it; they wanted to be free of their prison. They had trapped been in her mind far too long.

She was going insane, her mind was chaos. She was standing in a hurricane and losing herself by being ripped apart. Rogue was so confused and it didn't help that her mind was a complete mess. Rogue, who was she at all? She couldn't seem to remember who she was anymore. It was too hard with the system overload of teen concert goers.

She had run away transforming into whichever psyche that had taken control for the moment. Rogue had done much damage and a trail of carnage was left in her wake of confusion down the once quiet, non- turbulent streets of downtown Bayville.

Rogue believes she's being attacked by the people who were supposed to be her friends. Scott blasts her with an optic blast. It hurt more emotionally than physically.

* * *

_Ah tell them that Ah need help and they say that they're mah friends, but I have none, they all betray meh in the end, just like Risty who was really just Mystique using meh again. She says she's mah mother, but what mother would do this ta her child? What mother would abandon both Kurt and Ah so often when we aren't useful anymore?_

_Ah'm morphing again, Ah can feel another take control and Ah just doan have the energy to fend them off anymore. Ah'm getting weaker, but Ah'm still drowning in mahself, and dying in the tide of personalities that is my head. Ah doan wanna hurt them, but they hurt me, Ah think, Ah just doan know anymore. They retaliate and that hurts more. Are they tryin' ta get rid of useless, pathetic, bitch, Gothic Rogue? Ah'm so confused. _

_Who am Ah?_

"_Rogue, Rogue…"_

_Ah hear a voice it's close and familiar, yet so far away. Ah cahn't seem to find it._

"_C'mon, Rogue, snap out of it. The Rogue I know would never allow anybody to push her around and get away with it. I know you can overcome this, 'cause, kid, we're one in the same, you and I," it says. Who is it?_

_Wolverine…_

_WOLVERINE?_

_Ah know what Ah have ta do and Ah have to fight them, because this is MAH mind and AH control it NO ONE else. Ah had to gain control before Ah lost mahself completely. _

_Ah fall down. They're getting pulled back, but it's so hard and Ah doan know if Ah can do this by mahself. _

"_Ah'm fighting them, Ah'm tryin', Ah really am, but there's just too many. Ah need help, please…"_

_Ah suddenly feel Xavier enter mah mind and help me quell, quiet and finally dispose of the psyches in mah mind. It's so slow, but it's working, Ah know. Mah mind suddenly feels clear and empty and Ah know who Ah am now. _

_Ah'm so tired. Ah fall and Ah land in Wolverine's arms. He looks worried. So does everyone else. Maybe they do care about me. Suddenly, it gets dark and everything fades to the background… _

_

* * *

_

_Ah'm awake now and in the infirmary. Logan visited me. He's helping me get over this, because no one knows better than him the sting of betrayal. Ah know now that he does care about me as does everyone at the institute. They are mah real friends, even Scott and Jean as much as they annoy me now and will later. He told meh that Ah need to let mah real friends be there for me and Ah'll try if not for me, for Logan, Kitty, and Kurt because they truly care about me and have shown it, everyone has. _

_This won't change who Ah am to begin with, though. It won't make me start wanting to get closer to people because Ah canh't. Ah do appreciate it though. Mr. McCoy's been real nahce ta me in the infirmary while Ah recover. He's a really good doctor and a kind and honest man. Kitty and Kurt have been with me here as much as they can. They want to prove to meh that they are mah real friends, but they doan need to, Ah already know. They were really nahce and decorated the infirmary for meh with flowers. _

_Everyone has visited meh and hope that Ah'll feel better. They doan expect meh to change and Ah appreciate that. Ah know they doan expect me to act different around them after this experience and Ah appreciate it, although Ah now hold their friendships more dear to mah heart._

_Scott and Jean were down heah too. Jean said she needed to help meh ta let meh know that she saw meh as a true friend, because she knows Ah stood bah her when the whole mutant bigotry happened. She also told meh she envied meh, for being able to not have people's expectations embedded into meh and because Ah'm original, Ah'm meh, for meh and no one else. What ya see is what ya get. What she doesn't see is Ah'm hiding some part of meh, just as she is, just as Kitty is, just as we all are. She should know that Ah see her as a friend, too, although we have our differences and we're so different, like naht and day. _

_Scott told meh he was sorrah that we drifted apart and he too values our friendship and at this moment Ah know, Ah'm not crushing on him anymore. He's like mah older brother or close friend. Ah just doan see him in that way anymore. Besides, Scott and Jean belong together and Ah'm over it now. He also hopes to renew our friendship and make it strong, like it once was and still is. _

_Kitty gave me the support Ah didn't know that Ah needed and Ah'm so glad that she's mah roommate, because it's what brought us together. Ah can admit things ta her that Ah would tell no one else and she'd do the same. We're different, but it's those differences that make us good friends, that gave meh the trust Ah have for her that Ah now realize Ah nevah had with Risty at all to begin with. She is truly mah best friend. We can compromise and make things work between us. We just click._

_Kurt hasn't left mah side and has really shown that he is mah brother, even though we're not related bah blood in any way. Ah now know whah Ah feel a certain connection to him. _

_A few days ago, he came with mah dinnah ta the infirmary and told meh that Logan and Storm had gone to track Mystique or our mother and Ah got angry with him and told him ta go away, because of all that has been goin' on with meh lately. But he didn't go away instead he said, "Rogue, I know zat you are hurtzing right now, I know zat I am not yor brozher by blood, and I know zat Mystique was not a true mother to eizher of us, but know zat no matzer vhat you're going through, I vill be zhere for you, mein Schwester."_

_Ah was touched that he would say that and Ah know he means the truth when he says it with all his heart and it's Kurt and Kitty who are here with meh now in the infirmary keeping meh company. They are mah true friends and in the case of Kurt, a true brother. _

_This Ah know, and yet, my heart is cleaved in two. I may know that the people at the Institute are the people who truly care about me, but I don't think I can take it anymore. I can't take another betrayal, another person who just wants to use me, take advantage of me. They don't expect me to come around and be all friendly with them and Ah won't. I need to protect myself better. If Ah doan, I just end up burned again and Ah really doan think Ah can take it anymore. _

_Ah got a break; that much is true. But Ah can't tell who Ah am anymore and the professah can only help me so much. Some things Ah have ta do on mah own. Ah won't be taken ovah bah anyone evah again, psyches or otherwise. _

_Ah feel on the edge of something. Something Ah have ta do alone and Ah cahn't be hurt anymore. So Kurt, Kitty, Logan, Profesah, Ah'm truly sorrah, but Ah have to do this bah mahself. _

_(Tell me if I'm being too sappy or sentimental or non-angsty with Rogue) _

_

* * *

_

_T'ings are gettin' weirder an' weirder lately. _

_Mag's requests are getting boring, stupid and pointless quick. When I do use my skills it's fer some half cake job that's just way too easy. Something big is happenin', something secret that he's plannin' and no one knows what de hell it is. The world is changing and I don't think it's for the better. I need t' get out._

_First, I'm bored outta my mind, so when Mesmero tells me t' go out an' steal somethin' from dat pansy Worthington by hypnotizing and mind controlling me, I didn't fight it, I'm like what da hell, why not? I just had to get out of that shit/hell hole of a base. Sure, the guys are like brothers to me now, but Johnny boy is out of his mind and Colossal can be a snore. And Sabes, just doan get me started on him. _

_It's real foggy, when you're under mind control, I couldn't believe half the mistakes I made during that heist and 'Warren Worthington III's'. I stole some old relic that got Old Buckethead and Tattoo Face all up and at 'em. It's de final key to open up Apocalypse. _

_When I finally got off de damned mind control, everything became clearer and it didn't feel like I was in some fog of half conscious or some real trippy drinkin' 'perience. And God was I pissed, sure, I let Mesmero control me, but I was still pissed for bein' controlled, who wouldn't?_

_So now, the boys and I are off on some chase to rid the world of some ancient evil bent on takin' over the world. If ya ask me, Mags is just pissed dat someone is tryin' t' steal his thunder. And now he's all like, 'I'll do this myself, because you are all inferior. This is a battle for higher evolutionaries'. And we're all like, 'Whatever, homme. Go on your wild goose chase and die, fer all we care.' The world's better without you in it and that'll free up Colossal, Johnny Boy and me. The guy's still locked up, for Pete's sake. _

_Funny part is, he lost. Now, we're all in 'Fear the Apocalypse' mode. I know if it weren't for the things that Old Magsy has over our heads, John, Piotr and I would all be off. Unfortunately, we're all contracted and if we go back to where we're from, things would just get worse for us._

_I mean, I don't wanna get married t' some psycho bitch, just because it will bring peace t' de Guilds. There will still be unrest if we were to marry. Besides, I'm tired of bein' used by my father for stealin', sure he cared for me, fed me, and put a roof over my head, but he stopped bein' a real father and stopped carin' 'bout me a long time ago. Besides, they all turned their back on me. They really don' care 'bout me anymore. They hate me because of my mutation and simply because I'm a mutant. Everyone abandons me in some way. It doesn't help that dey have t' worship Candra. I've pretty much got a bullet with my name on it with the Assassins and some o' da T'ieves if I go back to de Big Easy. So it's with Magneto I am now._

_Piotr has pretty much de same thing. If he goes back to Russia, de mutant haters who are all over the country side would hurt his family. The mutant hating is so intense there that you always hear stories on de down low that mutants are being lynched everyday now. He went with Magneto to get good pay to bring back to his family, protect them and escape the mutant persecution of Russia. De farm life is hard. Magneto won't even try t' arrange for Piotr to see his family and Pete is lookin' more down by the day. It shows in his art._

_John was always in juvie in Australia, because of a turbulent childhood of foster care, abusive parents, bad friends, peer pressure, bad decisions, destruction and non-mutant tolerance. He was framed fer arson and if he goes back t' de Land Down Under, he'd be arrested, tried and put away fer years and years. They aren't all dat tolerant o' arson down dere, 'pecially when national parks and reserves go up in smoke and on top o' all dat, his mutant status would only cause the judge to give 'im more time in the slammer in Aussie. De childhood don' help none. _

_De only one who's with Mags one hundred percent is Sabretooth. Only problem is, he's an imcompetant fool. He's also a mercenary by choice, not circumstance, like moi. It's really entertaining to see him get beat by the Wolverine. Me and the Boys get a laugh outta dat. One of the few, that aren't grim and forced around here. _

_John's real chipper an' can always make me laugh. He's like a real big kid. A real big, real insane kid that burns everything. De one guy who I can talk to about going out to bars and de like with. Seein' him try t' pick up de femmes is priceless. He's such a kidder, an' although he bugs me a lot, he's a good friend. Always asks me fer stuff t' put into his book, because of my 'perience with de femmes. Good times, those. _

_Piotr's real serious, but I can always talk to him 'bout t'ings dat really matter. He's a good guy and tries not to lower himself to Magneto, no matter what he is doing. He still has some hope for the world. He's understanding and also become a good friend. Harder to get into bars and de like though. Also funny to watch him try t' pick up femmes, looks like he's dying out dere. Always asks me fer stuff t' put into his art, because of my 'perience with de femmes. Good times, those. _

_

* * *

_

_What's goin' on? Ah had the strangest dream last naht. Ah had absorbed everyone at the Institute, but it was way too vivid to be a dream. (Everyone except Evan, that is. He's with the Morlocks now.) Are the psyches tryin' ta take over again? Ah just doan know anymore. Everything just seems ta get worse and worse everyday. Ah cahb't rely on anyone, cahn't trust anyone, because it will hurt too much in the end._

_Ah feel sick to my stomach and Ah just cahn't eat anythang this morning. Kitty is askin' if Ah'm okay, but Ah cahn't tell her anything. We still talk and we got a little closer, but Ah'm always guarded still, more so than before, and Ah think see knows that. But she knows what Ah've been through and won't push me. Kurt is lahke that too. We've got closer too, but without goin' anywhere. Sometimes Ah want ta tell them everythang, but Ah know if Ah do, Ah might just get burned bah them in the end, even though Ah know they are my true friends. _

_This is just too complicated sometimes. _

_

* * *

_

_Dat Rogue girl from de X-Geeks attacked me. It was weird, dough. She was under some mind control. I tried to fight her off, but she ended up absorbing me by using some of the powers she had stolen from de ot'ers. They barely put up a fight with her and I've got de video footage to prove it, it's actually kinda funny. The weirdest t'ing was, is dat when she absorbed me, she kissed me. Now I know dat when Mesmero controls you, he can mess with your secret, most inner desires, so she must've wanted t' kiss me. Not dat I'm too surprised, I am Remy LeBeau, after all. It's just weird, I guess, after de way she treated me when I saved her from de Football Goons. _

_

* * *

_

(Remy torture alert. Hehehe)

Remy LeBeau could not believe his luck, not only had he been forced to find the now mind controlled Rogue with both Wolverine and Sabretooth, he was now stuck in an airplane with them in limited space 50,000 feet above land. 'Kill me now,' he thought.

Their grudge had seemed to increase ten fold, now that they were not only forced to work together, and put in the confines of an airplane, in which Remy was now trying to pilot without crashing it just to get them to put a cork in it. (He had nominated himself pilot after both Wolvie and Sabes had quarreled about being attacked by the other while piloting, when their concentration was solely on flying.) He was going insane. It was just not possible for grown men to act like this. If the bickering wasn't enough, he also had to put up with the weird animal noises and growls they kept tossing back and forth. He had long started a burn competition in his head to keep track of the comebacks, and keep him occupied, but even that was growing old, now that they had decided to use glares, snarky noises and hisses to compete. At last count it was: Wolverine: 564, Sabretooth: 247; yes, Wolverine was definitely winning the wit match, perhaps it was because he actually had a functioning brain.

He was tempted to yell, 'Why don't you just have sex and get it over with?', if only to shut them up, put he just didn't want to get mauled. As soon as he thought that, he shuddered, but then, he remembered not to show fear in front of the two animalistic mutants. He masked his disgust with his empathy and took deep calming breaths; it would be over soon, just a few hundred miles more…

* * *

They had finally tracked Rogue and Mystique to Tibet and Gambit had never been happier to reach land after being forced to endure Wolverine and Sabretooth. The trio had followed Mystique and Rogue's trail to a cliff, overlooking a lush forest below, when they were suddenly attacked by the psychic probes of one Mesmero.

However, all had been protected from harm due to the mental shields that Xavier had so kindly put on them earlier that day, but still the bickering continued.

"You know," growled Sabretooth, "Mesmero told me to push you off the cliff, and let me tell you I'm still tempted to."

"Shove it, bub, if anyone's shoving anyone of a cliff, it would be me shoving you off," responded Wolverine.

"Do me and de planet a favor. Why don't you just both jump off de mountain," stated Gambit, annoyed. With that, he continued along a darkened path and finds the sealed entrance to the Ancient's tomb.

As Wolverine and Sabretooth catch up, Gambit began to charge the carved rock entrance. He then steps back gracefully and barely blinks an eye as the door explodes and rubble and debris fly around. Remy then struts in, only to realize that it is perhaps a lost cause, with the 'married couple'.

The so-called team rushed Mesmero and begins to attack him, only to realize that Rogue is entering the recently opened Eye of Ages via Mystique. The struggle intensifies and Wolverine is victim to Mesmero's psychic attack for the moment. However, this enables Sabretooth to knock out Mesmero while he is distracted with Wolverine. This causes Rogue to awaken from her hypnotism for the moment.

She is confused and looks around the chamber in a daze. Apocalypse uses this to his advantage and grabs her hand, absorbing all the psyches and powers from Rogue deaging him and giving him all the powers that Rogue had absorbed for this purpose.

Wolverine sprints to the chamber to discover a petrified Mystique, a collapsed Rogue and (dun dun dun) Apocalypse rising from his ancient tomb. At this moment the rest of the X-Team emerge from the vessel that has transported them via Egypt.

Wolverine pops his claws and tries to deal out some carnage, only to have Apocalypse wave his hands nonchalantly, causing the air around him to pulse and the Wolverine to fly back and fall unconscious.

Apocalypse glides out of the back chamber to enter the main hall where the remaining X-Men are congregated and preparing for battle. Only they are wiped out by another pulse emanating from Apocalypse's outstretched hands. He then continues along the main hall where he enters the vessel the X-Men had just exited to power it up and escape with a flash of blinding white light.

And with that Apocalypse had been unleashed and the once brooding Rogue, now had more to brood about, after unleashing perhaps the most dangerous mutant to threaten existence.

* * *

The three actual friends of the Acolytes were stuck in Egypt. Since Apocalypse had seemingly killed Magneto when he absorbed him into his purple energy dome (weird name, I know, but that's how it looked like to me –shrugs shoulders-), they had been in Egypt contemplating what to do.

Magsy had made them garner information from the locals on Apocolypse, but after that he had headed off alone to do battle with the great Ancient, leaving the Acolytes behind to stay indefinitely, bound by contract. Piotr was perhaps most pleased of his downfall because of his and Magneto's encounter before he had left, in which Magneto had restated the terms of his bind of the giant, his family.

It was bad, sure, Gambit, Pyro and Colossus had secretly and quietly celebrated the apparent demise of their leader, but there was still the ever-loyal annoyance of Sabretooth, stopping them from scattering and doing their own things. There was barely anything to lighten the mood and Pyro and Gambit's obsessive compulsive behaviors of shuffling cards and flipping lighters was getting on everyone's nerves. Even Gambit's seemingly endless knowledge of card games used to pass the time was thinning.

And so a few weeks after Magnet Man's departure, the Acolytes' resident klepto stole a plane and gathering their scarce belongings flew back to the states and scattered to the winds. Colossus returning to Russia secretly and stealthily, Gambit continuing his mercenary thieving ways in New York City, Sabretooth to wherever to roads took him and Pyro staying at the base to watch over things until something happened, like Magneto's sudden reappearance or a call for the teams to join forces once again to battle Appocy.

* * *

Rogue was an emotional wreck. If it wasn't her psyches causing her to be antisocial, it was her guilt at releasing the great evil that is Apocalypse, her guilt at pushing Mystique off the cliff and watching her shatter, at breaking Kurt's heart, at the fear of letting anyone near so they can't betray her anymore, at loosing control and at the happy, seemingly normalcy displayed at the Institute.

She had reached another turning/boiling point and no one could help her, not Xavier, not Logan, not Kurt, and not Kitty. She was seriously debating leaving, despite her brother's wishes of her not to, even though she had destroyed their mother and sunk down to her level.

She didn't know if she could take it anymore, things in her life were just so screwed up and she didn't know how to deal with it. She needed a break and if it was without the X-Men, so be it.

* * *

_De femme, she be alright. Dat be what I be thinkin' right now, being cooped up in N'Awlin's. After she left wit' de X-Men, m' pere convinced me t' stay here for a bit. I don' know possessed me to stay, but I did. Sure, I enjoyed seein' m' brother, Henri and Tante Mattie and her coonkin', but me pere and everythin' else was de same. Nothin' had changed. He was still usin' me fer jobs. So I left it again, still tryin' t' avoid Belle an de Assassins. Dey still don' have de whole marriage thin' worked out. It majorly sucks. _

_I did some mercenary work fer a while, away from de Big Easy. I'm here one last night to get all me stuff and move out once and fer all, or until they get everythin' straightened out wit' de engagement, me powers and me pere, fer starters. _

_I did some work over in Paris. De lady, she was belle, o'er there. Plenty o' belle femmes, too. Stole loads of jewelry, intel and de like. Good pay, good job, good stretch o' me skills, hadn't felt dat good after a heist in a while. Still, I feel a little guilty fer what I did t' Rogue back in Louisiana._

_We talked a lot durin' dat trip, dat is, when she wasn' glarin' at me and when I wasn' flirtin' wit' her a bit. I don' nearly flirt wit' her as much as I do o'her girls, fer some reason. We've been down de same path and I can relate t' her and understand her and she me. We talked 'bout everythin' an nothin' 'pcially on de boat in de swamp, de petite restaurant an' de train ride dere. _

_She's alright. She came back t' help save me pere, even after she realized I used her. We've both had enough o' dat in our lives. I gave her me Lucky Lady t' apologize and somehow, dat still isn't enough. I promised I would look out fer her and I guess I'm comin' back, in a way, t' uphold me word. I hear she's doin' okay, though._

_I can't fathom why though, I've done worse to ot'er femmes and it's never felt this way. Can't say I understand the feeling. I have dis urge, dis pull, like I have to go back t' Bayville and personally apologize fer it. Although it was a good idea at de time, I had really taken her there for her to loosen up and loose that guilt that was buildin' up, even though I had ulterior motives and it was just me rationalizin' it. _

_I heard she was the one who finally put Apocalypse out fer good. Good fer her. I couldn't be around or found at de time, because I was doin' a high stakes heist at a government compound o'er in France. Let's just say some interestin' intel was stolen and only Remy LeBeau could get de job done._

_She needs somthin' t' boost her confidence and self-esteem after havin' t' put up wit' Mystique and God knows what else. Hope she's doin' well now. _

_I've had a good three months between bein' back in N'Awlins and takin' up me trade once again, even though it wasn't fer de Guild. It was good t' fell dat high again. I hadn't realized how much I missed it. T'ievery, it's like de only time dere's ever perfection in me life, it's de one thin' I can execute perfectly and dere's no feelin' dat's better than dat high of knowin' that you completed a heist perfectly. I relished it. _

_Too bad dat now Apocalypse is gone, me an' de boys are bound by contract again. Though dis time, we'll be getting' better accomadations. Thank God, dat man's metal fetish is crazy. At least the doors and de like weren't metal. I don' think we could have taken it, if they were. _

_We can' say we're happy about returnin' t' work fer him, but we are bound by contract and bad thin's will happen if we don', like Magsy tellin' de Assassins where I'm at. De contract's one o' de only thin's dat's holdin' de nuptials back, Thank God._

_When we heard Magsy was back, we were all in a bar in New York, somewhat celebratin' Appocalypse's end. Piotr had talked about joining the X-Men and fighting fer mutant rights, so mutants in Russia don' have t' suffer anymo'. He was also thinkin' 'bout doin a show somewhere at a gallery in New York. John was thinkin' 'bout goin' int' writin' full time. We all had a laugh outta dat. Dat is until Sabes comes bargin' in tellin' us dat Ol' Buckethead was back an' we were all bound by contract once for. All de happiness o' de moment was sucked right up. _

_Poor John looked like his dog jus' died. He got so hysterical in denial, he almost cried. De best part was when he got angry afterward and set Sabey's hair and fur coat on fire. I've never seen de guy laugh so maniacally and dat's somethin'. He was real malicious and Sabes had some real ugly lookin' third degree burns. We're not lettin' him live dis down. Piotr also metaled up and clogged him real hard, amidst his fur singin'. He's de silent type so it was unexpected, but great. Sabes didn't expect dat from him and de look on his face was priceless._

_Well since my friends had already embarrassed him, I had absolutely no choice but t' follow suit. So I took me Bo-staff and whacked him in de nether regions and blew some nice chunks from his flesh and face dat are now only startin' t' heal up. We had a good laugh after dat, before we left, t' once again serve Magneto, though it was grim. None of us are lookin' forward t' workin' fer him again. _

_So here I am, reminiscing 'bout the last three months, it was great while it lasted. I'm on a plane right now headed up t' Bayville, after sending all me stuff up t' our new digs. And thinkin' about how t' face an' apologize to a girl who I barely know and yet know so much. _

_

* * *

_

_Ah still cahn't get used ta it. Ah helped defeat Apocalypse. Perhaps Kurt said it best about how Ah feel, "Ze girl who shut herzelf out from ze world, just saved it." It felt good ta do that, but that doesn't mean it changed all of who Ah am, Ah still doan wan' anyone ta get too close, but it's getting' harder, 'pecially with Kitty an' Kurt around. _

_We've all gotten closer. Thangs are goin' pretty good lahtelah. The things wit' mah psyches are improvin', if slowly. The professah still won't give up on meh and fer that, Ah'm grateful. Ah feel better now, maybe even more confident, mah powers seem a little less o' a curse aftah mah encounter wit' Apocalypse. It was only fittin' that the one ta release him should emprison him again. Ah still think that Damien couldda done it, if he'd been oldah, though. _

_Ah've built up a lotta demons this pahst year and Ah guess Ah'm tryin' ta get ridda them. Ah let a lot of things go and Ah've felt freer of late. Kitty and Kurt have helped with that. And Logan too, when he's around. Ah'm a little more willin' ta do thin's with people now, but Ah'm still no social butterfly. _

_Though Ah did go tha mall wit' Kurt and Kitty last weekend. We did a lot of fun stuff, shopping, eating and seein' some good movies. It was a lot of fun. Ah have some othah friends at the Institute too, lahke Sam, he's from the South too, Kentucky; Tabby, who can be a little bit crazy at times, Wanda, since we have a lot of the same interests and past and all of tha other New Mutants like Ray, Jubilee, Bobby and Jamie, they're all real amusin' and mahke me an' everyone else laugh a lot. Jubilee and Rahne are back too, which makes our family feel more complete. Tabby came back too, trying ta convince Wanda to come too, but she didn't come in tha end, that's okay though, Kitty and Ah still she her lots. Evan's still with tha Morlocks, but we see him a lot more now. And he comes and stays over more often. It's nahce ta see him when he does. He goes on missions too, and even tha Danger Room too, sometimes._

_Schools alright, just a coulple mo' months and Ah graduate. Ah cahn't wahte till Ah'm out, though Ah haven't decided what Ah wanna do aftah, it's okay. And Ah'm getting' pretty good marks. _

_Jean and Scott are goin' t' New York University and have moved in together, closer to their university and at tha Institute too, Ah'm truly happy fer them now. Even though sometahmes, it still hurts seein' them together and knowin' Ah may nevah touch. Ah guess that's one o' tha reason's Ah didn't lahke Jean in tha beginning. Ah get along better wit' both a them now, though._

_Ah guess Ah have Remy ta thank fer takin' meh outta here fer a while ta make meh realize all Ah had and that the Institute is mah family, no matter what. Kurt has forgiven meh fer pushin' Mystique of that cliff and we've gotten over her. _

_Ah've been thinkin' o' him quite a bit lahtely. It's nahce knowin' someone cares about ya. It was sweet o' him ta give meh his card. Ah glued it to mah book. It's where Ah keep all mah things, like journal entries, poems, art work and scrapbooks, just pretty much whatever. _

_He took meh away from thin's that were buggin meh at tha time and helped me stay at the Institute. It was nahce ta get away from tha chaos that was mah lahfe back then and still is, Ah just don' mind it as much anymore. Even though he used meh, it was the wrong thing ta do fer tha right reasons, which is more than what Ah evah did fer Mystique. She still hurts meh, a little, sometimes. _

_Ah would lahke ta thank him some time, if Ah evah see him again. Tha is, if he's not busy flirtin' wit' all tha girls and drivin' meh insane. He can be a decent guy, when he's naught obnoxious.

* * *

_

So they were starting to grow on each other. They weren't friends yet or acquaintances. But there seemed to be an interest or curiosity in each other, that wasn't romantic yet, that would be later. But the impressions left on their souls from that first meeting were starting to form and show itself. However, it would be some while before those feelings shifted violently to love. All great loves start with great friendships and they were about to become that, if not more in a stretch of time.

Hearts had yet to be won and feelings had yet to burry themselves in their hearts and show up.

Their story was about to begin truly and it would be one of great sorrow, anguish, trials and heartache, but it would prove to be one of the truest, purest greatest loves of all time.

* * *

Wow, that was like so long. It took like, 20 pages on Microsoft Word, argh. My other chapters probably won't be as long, seeing as this one was two of them combined. I'll try to update every week once or twice, but I do have school work. Look out, original stuff coming up. UP NEXT: **CHAPTER THREE: DOUBLECROSS.**

Thanks to all who reviewed and read this.

simba317


	3. Doublecross

**Declaimer: **I don't own anything, not any characters, yet anyway, Evo or Marvel. They own each other. Or whatever. If I did own it though, Remy and Rogue would have been together already (in Marvel Universe and Evo), Remy would have joined the X-Men earlier and he wouldn't look like that. Some parts of him are okay, like his trench coat and face, but the boots, hair, goatee and uniform just doesn't cut it. He's suave, not a fashion victim. Damned Evo artists. –grumbles and waves fists menacingly- Rant over. –breathes and calms down-

**Authors Notes: **From now on all my ideas, all _I _want shall happen. Power corrupts apparently, oh well. –MUAWAHAHAHA- (Dammit, acting schizo again) Okay just as a refresher Rogue and Remy are starting to become slightly intrigued by each other. No, they do not love each other, have a crush on each other, are friends, or are interested in each other, YET. There will be a time for Romyness and super fluffiness, just not yet. I sincerely hope I haven't deterred anyone from reading because of that or anything. I simply want them to grow to love each other and be friends first, somewhat. Besides, I absolutely love it when they banter, they're just so witty and they get the best lines. Remy has to fight a little for her affection and for her to realize that he loves her despite it all. Rogue needs to be a little self- doubting and pushing Remy away in the beginning because it makes their love so much more in the end. It's a better story. Oh and I have some subtle Scott bashing going on too. I like his character on Evo, I really do, but he just has to let loose a little, just a little. Oh yeah and if you really like Jott bashing, read my bio, you'll be mildly surprised with the Jott bashing the writers and animators do on Evo. HEHEHE. This idea has been in my head for weeks and I just gained to courage to start writing fics. I couldn't find a structure for how Remy left Buckethead, but I came upon this idea typing the finishing touches on the first chapter and building it to a believable reason to why he would join. I also reformatted it a little when the entire chapter came into my head writing the second chapter. I got inspired from several writers, but unfortunately, I don't really remember the story's names or authors. However, I did have a little idea based off raven2687's Demon in My View. So I'd like to thank her for writing it. I'm not giving anything away just yet; you'll have to read on. But I promise it's good.

By the way, I've got a three day school week next week 'cuz my school has a parent teacher interview thingy and a teacher's convention. So that means I can probably fit 3-4 updates next week. Plus the best part is I get to turn Sweet Sixteen on the parent teacher interviews on St. Patrick's Day. Totally excited.

I'm sorry if Kurt and Piotr's accents look the same when I write it. I just don't know how to write a German and Russian accent differently, even though I have a friend from Russia. When Colossus is talking, just imagine a deeper throatier voice for him with a distinct Russian accent. I'm very sorry once again if I am butchering all their accents, because there are way too many to write correctly. It's really hard to write one and then switch with out messing up a little.

**Shout Outs: **

**Ishy: **I get so happy every time I get a review from you. I want to get up and do a happy dance. (-Insert Happy Dance Here-) It encourages me to write, knowing you read my story, so thanks a lot for the R&R. And I totally wanted to start off their relationship like this because it's much stronger when it does. There's just something that is tragically ironic about how Remy, the total playboy, love 'em and leave 'em type, falls so hard for the one girl he can never touch. Well, I must say that was brilliant, Marvel, the stuff Romance is made of. They've got so many problems to work out and yet it is a true, emotional love in every sense because they can never show their affection for each other physically. I'm not big for the whole kissing, doing it behind barriers thing, because I think both would want the real thing and would not settle for less. It's more special for the first time that way. I love how you're so eager, it's totally sweet. –tear- I stick in dividers when I type them on Word, but the damn thing doesn't translate when I upload it. Could you please tell me how to put a break in and for in to actually work? But I will try to put them in so they stay. I did try to fix it, it didn't work. I got so frustrated, I wanted to scream.

Thank-you so much, Bunny on Crack, for reviewing, it means so much to me.

**Freakinout: **Why are you freakinout? Sorry, had to do that. If it's in anticipation of my story, THANKYOU. If not, thanks for reviewing. Shameless plug, I know. –sigh- I'm hopeless, okay. It's the Romy deprivation, I've taken to rereading Ish stories, just to get my daily dose. And I am trying to update ASAP. I have extra time next week to update, so I will.

**Chica De Los Ojos Café:** Thanks you the review and Yes I Am. See YOU'RE reading this aren't you? And it is an update.

Here we go people, the next chappie. Please review, there was only three reviews for the second chappie and I'm getting kinda worried. –gets on hands and knees and starts begging- It really helps me and it's the only way you guys get to sway the author on things so want to happen. So please. Chapter 2 was a direct response to Agent-G. I do take in your thoughts. I listen and take your stuff into consideration. It helps better my story, sometimes more than encouragement. I got rid of Evo stuff in one chapter because he wanted original material. And also funkydomino's wish for some Pyro. I included it for him/her (sorry) and because he is a riot. Thanks for reading the rants. So here it is:

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE: DOUBLECROSS**

"Mate, ya really shore ya can get us inta that place? I mean the security's really high tech," doubted Pyro, directing the question to Gambit, as the three Acolytes stared at the wrought iron gates of the Xavier Institute. They were not visible from the road as they had stealthily hidden themselves within some bushes and shrubbery. They were scarcely heard as they traveled the length of the fenced property to the front gates where the students entered when using foot traffic.

The sun was just preparing to set and cast orange light across the sprawling Xavier Estate where the mansion, school and headquarters and training facility of the X-Men were hidden a little ways from the unsuspecting town of Bayville, New York in Westchester.

The mansion was gorgeous, and was in beautiful condition. Deep grey stone with lighter flecks in it reflected from the brick-like exterior of the sprawling house. Windows framed with deep mahogany colored wood were spaced so that they let the inhabitants always have a grand view of the manor's exterior. Grand double doors made of the same wood as the window frames stood underneath a beautiful arch which was held up by pristine white marble columns. Underneath, laid the steps and the porch to the magnificent, inviting home and they too, were white marble, with whiter marks running through it. Balconies poked out from the top levels, made of white marble with thick railings as well. A dark tiled roof covered the tasteful, somewhat boastful yet cozy home. It seemed to resemble a castle and a man truly worthy of being a king ruled over his subjects and land justly and kindly. (For the house, imagine a cross between the X-Mansion like it looked like in the movies and the Evo X-Mansion, but with some tweakings of course) The grounds looked freshly manicured, despite the fresh layer of lightly sprinkled mid-January snow, dusted on the sleeping gardens and forest behind the mansion itself, covering the thick layer of winter snow below its pure white.

Remy looked at him like he had sprouted a second head and spluttered, "Oh ye of little faith, watch and be amazed."

"Comrade, just get on vith it," threw in an annoyed Colossus. They were battle worn, cold, injured and tired and he just wanted to get this done. After an exhausting mission, running around, doing Magneto's dirty work, they really didn't need to be caught, not after all they had gone through on their previous mission.

They were about to infiltrate the home of their enemy, the X-Men.

"Don' get yer panties in a bunch, homme. Besides, it looks like they're on high-alert mode due to the stage of their security systems," replied Remy nonchalantly.

"Can ya still get us in, mate," inquired John.

The Prince of Thieves gave him another look that stated that John had truly reached the depths of his insanity.

"Wot? Con't a man be skeptical wieth out ya getting all flipped oyt?" Remy sent him another look as he took off the panel to the keypad/touchpad, with ease using a complicated looking screw driver, leaving hundreds of wires exposed and ready for his tampering.

"Well, 'parently noyt," muttered John, incoherently.

Remy evasively hacked into their system with a small hand-held computer, and snipped a few wires to avoid detection, also taking out all the mansion's security camera's with a press of a button, before stating, "Alright, hommes, I've set de systems t' shut down temporarily, givin' us time t' get from de gate t' de door. Get ready…," making a few last minute adjustments before saying, in a stage whisper, "…and NOW!"

Remy quickly pulled out his computer from the panel in the exposed touchpad/keypad, screwed back the cover to the keypad/touchpad, put back his tools and gestured for St. John and Piotr to follow him.

The Gambit stalked across the grounds, knowing it as if he actually lived there and avoided all of the X-Mansion's secondary warning systems, with an ease, almost like he was walking in his own home and the enemy's lair, while John and Piotr followed close behind mirroring all his movements exactly, so as not to get caught. They followed the line of evergreen trees that lined the shoveled driveway which circled around a Grecian style statue, the centerpiece of a luxurious fountain which had several layers, so as not to be seen by anyone.

They were barely three steps from the door to their enemy's brothel and were about to enter the X-Mansion, which had more security than a nuclear missile silo when in lockdown, about to complete their most important mission.

* * *

_Meanwhile…15 minutes ago…_

'_My X-Men, to me in the War Room, now,' _thought Xavier as he summoned his X-Men with his telepathy by concentrating and placing the index and middle fingers from each hand at his temples. (Clichéd, I know, but I couldn't resist.)

Less than five minutes later, the teenage and adult inhabitants of the X-Mansion entered the War Room of the Xavier Institute, located below the main levels of the mansion, near the Danger Room. It was where the X-Men planned all their missions and had a long decorative oak table that almost ran the length of the large room. It had beautifully carved edges and legs with leaves woven into it. The room looked almost like an executive boardroom with many soft, cushy leather chairs lining the sides of the table. At the front of the room was a large screen with a control panel beside it for controls. It had all the functions of a normal television, computer and telephone, but with much more power and goodies. A black dome was at the middle of the table and could emit three-dimensional objects from the top. The carpet was a plush dark red and the walls were a royal blue with paintings and wooden framework on the ceiling and floor. Beautiful lighting fixtures hung from the ceiling, giving surprisingly good light, for something so fragile, with sparkling crystals. (I couldn't stand giving them a metallic war room, it'd be too Magneto, 'sides this is more stylin', they're X-Men after all)

They filed in from the heavy wooden doors that were enforced metal on the outside and betrayed nothing of the room's beautiful interior to viewers from the outside when it was closed. The members of the X-Men barely filled the chairs and there were still several left over at the end.

"Professor, what's going on?" asked Professor Xavier's prized pupil, and leader of the X-Men, as everyone had taken their seats in the giant wooden table in the War Room, "I mean we entered a semi-lookdown today and you didn't even tell us why. We're on full alert and you won't let anyone leave the mansion."

Xavier turned to them all before stating:

"I'm afraid, Scott, that the situation is grave, I have gathered all of you today to tell you exactly how grave, to answer all your questions and to tell you all my recent findings. But first, I need all the information containing this latest mutant dilemma and it has yet to arrive. Therefore, I cannot tell you without all the information. It will be here shortly, so I ask you to wait patiently."

He then looked to Beast, Wolverine and Storm as if for reassurance and continued on stating:

"All I will tell you now is that, because of the impending danger, I would like all of you to be in the lower levels of the Institute where it is safer and in this room, until I am sure it is safe, since it is the most heavily protected area of the Institute."

"It will be arriving shortly," he stated cryptically with a hint of mystery.

The mutants were now in the deemed safe cocoon of the lower levels and left to their wandering fears.

"I, like, wonder what it, like, is?" asked Kitty a worried frown marring the features of her usually happy face.

"Vell, it can't be good, not vith ze look in Xavier's eyes just now," answered Kurt who sat to her right.

"Defahnitelah, Ah've nevah seen him look so grave, not even when we were dealin' with Apocalypse," Rogue whispered back. The three were huddled near the front of the room in their seats beside the table in the War Room.

The X-Men had defeated Apocalypse three months earlier and the three months of bliss they were having, when all they had to deal with was mutant haters, protestors and disillusioned mutants, was coming to a rapid end.

Other students were in the same huddles as well, as they too, wondered what had Xavier and the rest of the adults present in such a dubious mood. Scott looked baffled as he and Jean wondered what the Professor could have hidden from them. Evan looked curiously to his Aunt, who only gave a grim smile in return and returned to talking to his friend Alex, Scott's brother, who had recently joined the X-Men to be closer to his recently discovered alive brother and to garner more control of his powers, which were being finicky at late. (I figured they'd be good friends because of the surfer/skater thing, like the talking with dude all the time) Amara, Jubilee and Tabitha exchanged worried glances and continued whispering. Rahne did her best to comfort Jamie who looked a little over his head at the moment, while Ray, Bobby, Sam and Roberto also talked amongst themselves. Warren, who had recently joined the X-Men with his girlfriend Betsy, to run his business away from the decreasing mutant tolerance and to make a difference in the lives of mutants who were now constantly being the victims of bigotry, was talking softly to Betsy about the matter. She too had joined to make a difference and to teach mutants to not loathe themselves for who they were. A lesson which she had to learn the hard way.

The students whispered amongst themselves in curiosity, while the adults, Logan, Ororo, and Hank gave Xavier a knowing look, trying to keep a brave face for what they knew lay ahead. Today was the day, they finally revealed to the students the gravity of the problems mutants faced and the secret they had kept for almost two years of espionage and secrecy to garner the information they had. (And to be continued….)

(Just had to play with you guys to see if you were paying attention. But is you saw the text below it, you probably knew I was only playin')

* * *

_Meanwhile, outside the mansion…_

Gambit and Pyro shivered slightly in their jackets, while Colossus looked impassive, as they stalked the last few meters to the door. He was used to such cold weather being from Russia; however Gambit and Pyro were not so lucky and favored warmer climates of Australia and New Orleans's.

Gambit wore a thicker warmer trench coat, much like his usual one with the many hidden pockets, except with a fleece lining that kept him extra toasty, however, he was Southern, and so any cold just didn't bode well with him. He wore his normal uniform underneath, except winterized, warmer and with long sleeves. His headdress kept his head warm, because it was turned into a modified hat. A pair of mitts that could have the front pulled off to reveal fingerless gloves underneath went over his usual gloves. A pair of dark sunglasses that suited him and completed his outfit, covered his demon eyes.

Pyro wore a shiny blue down jacket that went several inches past his waist with his normal uniform, except also winterized like Gambit with a pair of large black and blue snowboarding mitts and a pair of green earmuffs that went behind his head to his ears, without obstructing his pointed hair adorned his pink ears. A backpack strapped to his pack hid his flamethrowers and other items; however, the wires were still attached to his hands. He looked like a snowboarder off the mountains in his ensemble.

Colossus wore a black toque (Canadian invention) on his head. A dark olive green and black ski jacket that looked like a combination between a military uniform and a casual skier's jacket was zipped up all the way on his body. It had some black and white trim sewn on here and there as well. He too wore a pair of black snowboarding gloves on his enormous hands. His clothing was winterized as well and he wore a warm long sleeved shirt along with his usual uniform. A backpack strapped to his back also stored some unspecified items.

They were just about there.

When they reached the front entrance, Gambit bought out his tools and computer out again and began to pop a well blended stone from the wall beside the door off, revealing a case holding the wires to the security, before preceding to tamper with the system once more so as to allow them entrance to the Institute. He plucked a few wires, cut them and exposed the wires, before crossing them and twisting them back together with the exposed metal. He plugged in his mini-computer and re-routed the system momentarily, so that they could enter the mansion undetected under the temporarily disabled door alarm.

Gambit then removed his computer from the mass of wires and put it back in his trench coat. He put the wires back in and covered them with the case and stone. Retrieving a lock pick from his tool belt, he fiddled with the doors' locks and bolts a bit before, pushing down on the highly decorated mechanism that opened the door and pushed it open, revealing an immaculately decorated hall way, which showed off a gorgeously carved grand staircase. The mansion had enough valuables, which Gambit appraised, to make a lot of money for the thief. But he and the other two Acolytes had a mission to complete and it wasn't liberating the mansion and its inhabitants of their material possessions.

And with that Colossus, Gambit and Pyro entered the X-Mansion to the unawares of most of the X-Men.

"Vhat now, comrade?" questioned the giant of a Russian, noticing the empty appearance of the home, as he closed the grand doors and the alarm system whirred and beeped, indicating it was once again active. No one was around and it was starting to worry him a bit, even with Gambit's skill.

"Jus' follow Remy, homme. They'll probably be in de lower levels from the look of the security they have set up now for de maximal protection," responded Remy with ease.

"That's greayt, mate, but how ya gonna get us down darr, iot's supposed ta be impenetrable," doubted John, once again, however, he quickly added defensively, "not that I don't think ya can get us down darr."

"Easy, homme, just a quick trip down an elevator," responded Remy.

"Oyright, then, wot are we waiting fo'?" exclaimed an exited pyromaniac; he always enjoyed seeing the looks the X-Men gave him, especially when they were running for their lives from his torrent of flames.

"Indeed," added Colossus. He just wanted to get this over with and they were almost done their mission. Just a few more minutes, he told himself.

"Jus' for de righ' entrance t' be found, hommes," responded the thief as his keen eyes from the years of thievery scanned the home and the hall they were currently in. '_Dey would probably pick a spot out in the open, though not completely obvious to those who don' know where to find it. It would be in a central area too, what wit' all de mansion's space an' inhabitants. Somewhere that would be easy to get to from any spot in the mansion, or somewhere near where dey usually congregate,' _thought Remy as he walked around the entrance hall area looking for such a spot.

He wandered to the long hallway that was situated underneath the grand winding staircase that led to the kitchen, dining room, offices, living rooms and various other rooms. This hallway could also be reached from the two sitting rooms that were the focal points of the hall that were to the left and right of where John and Piotr were now watching the thief curiously. The walls were a deep blue and rich dark wood was gilded and framed into the walls as well. Paintings of various places, peoples and things were collected on those walls as well as photographs of all the inhabitants living in the mansion, starring back with joy in their faces from the times that they had been enjoying life to its fullest.

However, what caught his eye was the focal point of the hall, a beautifully carved fireplace made of dark cherry wood and marble support beams that were curved to the sides with ivy carved into the rock. The mantle was home to several expensive antiques and a pair of priceless vases stood guard at its sides. A famous painting by Picasso was hung over the mantle in a fitting well carved wooded frame. He looked at the foot of the fireplace and noticed the step that led into the pit where the wood and flames would go. It was raised and carved from wood, but had marble tiles on the top. At the corners he noticed two symbols; one on each side of the fireplace, both of the X's that the X-Men always wore with a circle around it.

And when he saw this he knew that he had found it, the entrance to all the X-Men's secrets. He smirked to himself. No one could hide anything from a thief like Remy LeBeau. Besides, he had seen hiding places and secret rooms like this from his exploits as a thief and his former home in New Orleans was littered with secret chambers and rooms.

He waved Pyro and Colossus over and said, "I've found it," and smirked.

"Good job, comrade, now, how do ve get in?" asked Piotr as Remy pushed down of the symbols that stuck out a little from the smooth marble and watched amazed along with Pyro as both X's shot out about a foot to reveal that they were mounted on the two poles that had grooves in it that marked about every two inches to show the start and end of about six different segments, that emerged, hidden by the X's.

"Like dis," continued Gambit as he twirled the different segments of each pole until he got what he wanted, when a glowing green circle that marked a finger print scanner on one of them and a line of glowing blue circles down the right pole that marked a modified key pad.

"Whoa, those X-Geeks are way technological," commented St. John, mildly impressed.

Remy then proceeded to take his computer, some tweezers and wires out and slipped the thin wires into the miniscule space between segments on each of the poles, allowing him to hack into the X-Men's system yet again by attaching his computer to the wires and allow them access to the elevator that would take them down to the levels below. When he was done, the fireplace and a small length of the wall above the fireplace moved backwards about five feet with a faint hiss, to reveal two entrances on either side of the fireplace, to an open circular room of the elevator. A control pad was mounted on a small raised area in the room that you pressed codes on to reach your destination.

The three entered the spacious circular room that was plated with steel and chrome and had a shiny white plastic- looking material on the walls that served as a sort of paint. When they had completely entered into the cavern, the fireplace moved back into its original position and all evidence of the existence of the poles and the room behind it was erased.

Remy approached the control panel and popped the cover off it that contained the wires and programming. He once again inserted his computer into the Institute's system and hacked away until he found what he was looking for. He pressed a few buttons on his mini-computer and the doors hissed shut, in a fashion that encircled the room and made it completely circular, eliciting a noise of surprise from both Piotr and John who were both engrossed in watching the thief hack his way into the security and program the elevator to do his bidding.

He pressed a few more buttons and a mechanical hum filled the cavernous room as it lowered to the depths of the X-Mansion. They came to an abrupt stop and by pushing a few more buttons on his computer, the doors once again opened with a hiss, by sliding back, revealing a long hallway which spanned the entire underground network of the Xavier Institute. Doors lined the hall of both sides which led to the Danger Room, War Room, Cerebro, Med Lab, Lab, Control Room and Locker Rooms. The walls were a shade of blue and everything else was metallic and sterile looking. Silver metal framed the walls and the floor was a plastic-like tile and the doors were all silver with keypads to the side for entry and made of reinforced steel.

"Vhere are zhey now, comrade?" inquired Piotr as they took in their surroundings.

"Where dey have de most security; de War Room, Cerebro or de Danger Room," stated Remy based on deductive reasoning, and added, "But seeing as how dey are probably gathering for a meeting, due t' de crisis out dere, they'd be in de War Room."

"Which way is it, mate?" asked Pyro as he scanned the halls.

"Dat way," Remy answered, pointing to his right, after peering into the Institute's schematics from the stolen and hacked files on his mini-computer.

The three proceeded down the corridor and prepared for attack, by metalling up, preparing flames and drawing cards, respectively. When they reached the end of the hall, they came across a set of high, reinforced steel, double doors with a keypad to its immediate right.

"Dis is it, dey're all in dere, from what I gather due t' de keypad history and de fact dat, none of de other rooms are being used right now, since de electricity is off," whispered Remy quietly preparing to enter the room and surprise the X-Men, "Get ready."

Pyro and Colossus got in defensive positions as Gambit used his computer to open the doors to the room, since pressing a code would alert the X-Men to their presence inside their home. A few clicks later and the door would open momentarily.

Gambit put away his computer and joined Pyro and Colossus in defensive positions, drawing his Bo-staff as well as charging several cards. They knew it would get ugly.

And with that, they prepared to face the X-Men.

* * *

_Inside the War Room_

"It's here," stated Charles Xavier cryptically, addressing Ororo, Logan and Hank who sat at the end of the table near the door. The three exchanged knowing looks, while the rest of the people in the room looked at them in confusion.

Suddenly, the door opened automatically with a hiss causing the room's attention to shift from their private conversations to why the door was opening. And they got the shock of their lives.

Standing, outside the door to the War Room was the three Acolytes, Gambit, Colossus and Pyro, looking relatively unscathed. All the X-Men were stunned and wondered how they had gotten past all their security, but none of them were too stunned to react. All got into battle positions and prepared to attack the Acolytes. All except Storm, Wolverine and Beast curiously did not take fighting stances, to the surprise and stupor of the X-Men, instead, they remained seated.

Scott eyed them suspiciously and instinctively bought his hand to his glasses. He prepared a battle plan and prepared to give orders to the X-Men to attack. The rest eyed the three warily. Rogue felt confused. Remy had told her that he would be look out for her and was torn between questioning him and just hitting him. She didn't really know what she should do because any thoughts of him being an enemy in her mind had been erased when he abducted her to New Orleans's. She had understood why he was contracted by Magneto and he was also blackmailed. If he refused to work, Magneto would clue in the assassins and allow them to kill him due to a dispute in the Guild. The contract was what was saving him at the moment.

The room was starting to get even tenser as the X-Men began to summon their powers. Each side was waiting for the other to react first. Until…

"X-MEN, SIT DOWN!" ordered Charles Xavier from his place at the head of the table in his wheelchair, eliciting surprised expressions from all the students who were standing up.

"But, Profes-," started Scott, sputtering.

"NOW!" ordered the professor, cutting off Scott and with that, all the X-Men promptly returned to their seats confused and surprised, except for Ororo, Logan and Hank who had remained seated and knew what was occurring.

"Now, I trust you have it, Gambit," addressed the professor to the Acolyte, in a welcoming tone.

"O' course, mon professeur," returned Gambit as he stepped forward with Colossus and Pyro following, demetalling and taking back his flames and Gambit putting his weapons away in a blink of an eye.

All three approached the front of the table where Charles Xavier was seated and Remy handed him several files, discs and other various other items from his trench coat's various pockets. Piotr and John did the same, emptying their backpacks.

"Wh-What's going on, professor?" asked Scott, completely befuddled, along with all the other X-Men. He was the only one currently brave enough to question the situation who was still in the dark.

"I hope you don't mind, Remy," stated the professor.

The most of the X-Men wore similar looks of puzzlement. Didn't these men just invade their home?

"O' course not, Professeur Charles," responded Remy with a smirk, to the confusion of the majority of the X-Men, since when were the two on a first name basis. He was enjoying the shocked expressions and other reactions from the X-Men. Both John and Piotr were amused as well. Piotr just hid it better than Pyro who looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

"You see-," started Xavier, but he was interrupted by Logan.

"First things first, Chuck," started Wolverine, "You reset all the security after you disengaged it, bub?"

"O' course, Monsieur Logan," replied Gambit.

The X-Men looked even more confused at this exchange. Wolverine, the most territorial of all the X-Men just acknowledged that Gambit had forced his way into his territory, so to speak and did not even blink an eye.

"Well, you can continue now, Chuck, as far as I'm concerned."

"Good, well as I was saying, I recruited Remy here more than two years before to be a double agent between myself and Magnus," restarted the professor.

"WHAT?" gaped the majority of the X-Men all at once. They could not believe that one of the most powerful Acolytes in battle, who had inflicted and caused many injuries to them in the past, was actually one of them to begin with.

Gambit's self assured and amused smirk seemed to grow wider as the time increased, much to the irk of one Scott Summers, Cyclops. He looked currently resembled a gold fish with his gaping mouth that opened and shut sporadically. Pyro looked like he was about to pee his pants with restrained laughter and was going red at the effort.

"You see, two years ago, just before we were all exposed, the anti-mutant sentiments around the world was erupting into an all out war and many governments and secret agencies were starting to conduct experiments to gain various ways to decimate the mutant population. We had no way of knowing what these were and I had no intention of sending any of you to find out as the consequences would be lofty and I simply would not risk you finding these and coming out diseased, and injured beyond hope."

"Remy, one of the sons of the head of the Thieves Guild at the time, was a full-fledged member of the Thieves Guild in New Orleans, a master thief and responsible for some of the most infamous and illusive of thefts to ever strike organized crime. Our Master Thief, here, however, had many problems, such as the downward spiral in which he was headed with his rapidly mutating powers, a all out war with the two existing Guilds in New Orleans, an impending peace marriage between himself and the daughter to the head of the Assassins Guild, a increasing intolerance towards mutants like himself in the Guilds and other areas in New Orleans, a tithe dilemma, as well as a reluctance to be continually used by his father for thievery due to his abilities."

"And exactly how did all this happen?" questioned Jean, skeptically. As much as she trusted the professor, he was asking her to believe in a Guild of Thieves, not to mention Assassins and it all just seemed too surreal.

"Remy?" asked the professor, as he tried to field the question to a more suitable answerer.

"Well, I guess I have t' start at de very beginning fer any o' dis t' make sense," he said. The professor nodded in response and Rogue was curious as to how he would explain it all to the X-Men, because she had absorbed some of it from him and it was still very confusing.

"Y' see, p'tite," he started, "When I was born, I was abandoned, as I have a visible mutation dat many found terrifying." At this he lowered his dark sunglasses to reveal his devil-like eyes, causing some to gasp in surprise.

He continued unfazed, he was used to it by now, though it still hurt a bit sometimes, "So I was stuck in an orphanage soon after, where I was dere for about de first five years of me life. I ran away at five from dere, when it became clear dat I was different and dat no one would adopt me and the beatings and abuse increased. De social workers didn't care either, they would hide me when potential clients came t' visit the orphanage t' adopt, fearing I would scare dem away from adopting a child and I was deemed 'Le Diable Blanc'."

"I was on de streets fer about two years where I joined a gang a children street t'ieves dubbed Fagan's Mob. It was here I learned de brutality of de streets and how t' steal from tourists and de like on de French Quarter and other tourist areas. It was dere I first met me father, Jean-Luc LeBeau."

"I had tried to steal money from him as he had baited me to do so, after seeing me pick the pockets of many tourists wit' a skill that rivaled de most experienced pickpockets. Jean-Luc wore de best o' clothes and allowed his money to jangle and show in his pockets, de traits o' one who was confident with his money, greedy, clueless and had lots of it. When you're on the streets, y' can always use extra cash, and being seven at de time, I took de bait. I shadowed him fer a few blocks an' den reached into his pocket seemingly unnoticed to retrieve his wallet."

"However, b'fore I could get it out, he grabbed my wrist and asked me why I would try t' rob de wallet from de head o' de Thieves Guild. I was afraid because o' all de stories o' de brutality and mysticism I had 'eard 'bout dem from kid in de Mob. I panicked and tried t' run, but his grip was too strong an' he overpowered me."

"He tol' me I was one o' de best pickpockets he 'ad seen, despite my age, an asked me t' become a member o' his family, because he pitied one so young who had to live t' cruelty of de New Orleans streets. I tol' him dat many had said so t' me before and dat he would revert his offer, once he saw me eyes. He asked why an' I showed him me eyes. He smiled an said, 'Aren' y' a little devil? More de reason t' take y' in. M' son Henri will love t' 'ave a petite frere like you.'"

"Dat was de day, I left de streets an de Mob an' got an actual family dat accepted me. Henri an' I quickly became as close as actual brot'ers an I met m' mere dat day as well. Her name was Marianne an' she was a kind, welcoming woman, who loved m' as her own son from de beginning. However, she was frail an' de brewing conflict b'tween de Assassins an' T'ieves didn't help, she died when I was eleven. I also became 'pcially close t' me Tante Mattie and cousins Emil and Lapin."

"During dis time, I was being trained t' be a master t'ief as well as goin' t' school wit' dem, as dey had a private school dat was a legal part of de N'Awlins school district. I succeeded at all dese lessons in t'ievery and academically. I quickly climbed up de ranks an reached de highest position one can garner as a t'ief in de Guild at 16, being de youngest full fledged member, since most don' reach dat status until around 23 to 25 years old."

"My powers also manifested when I was eleven and it was highly uncontrollable at de time, I couldn't touch anythin' wit' out it expoldin' until I locked myself in de basement one day an' focused entirely on controlling dem t' get me life back. It worked an' I had full control. But I still felt like I was goin crazy due t' me empathy manifesting at de same time, I also had t' learn how t' turn de volume down on it, when I was training myself. Eventually I did wit' de help o' me Tante Mattie and Henri."

"I was one o' de best t'ieves in de Guild an' could do a heist dat required sometimes 20 men t' do on me own. It was at dis time when I was about 17 dat de tithe started an we started t' work wit' an external named Candra t' fin' peace between de Guilds an' end de war an' bloodshed. A marriage pact dat had been initiated when I was 12 was put into motion and it was officially decreed dat I marry Belladonna Boudreaux, daughter to Marius Boudreaux, head o' de Assassins Guild. It was t' solidify a peace treaty dat was t' end centuries of warfare on de streets o' N'Awlins and t' merge de two Guilds into a combined more powerful Guild."

"However, de tithe was being marred by Candra who was only using us t' further her exploits wit' some o' de major corporations and interests dat made her billions o' dollars. Many Guild members on both sides were forced t' take de Elixir o' Life, a drink which turned many members int' her willing servants an' so her bidding. She den had T'ieves t' steal all she wanted an' Assassins t' kill dose who displeased her. An' because de leaders were de first t' drink de Elixir at de tithe, all dose dat controlled de Guilds were under her influence."

"Many members had drunk de Elixir willingly, when dey thought it would garner dem superior strength, but when its true purpose was discovered, by dat time, it was too late. All de members from de Guilds dat had drank it including my fat'er an de head of de Assassins and his two heirs, Belladonna and her brother Julien were affected. Dey were no longer rational an' had an insatiable greed. M' fat'er stopped being de kind and wise man he once was an began t' use me fer many dishonorable deeds due t' me powers."

"De anti-mutant sentiments inside both Guilds an' de rest o' N'Awlins intensified

due t' Candra an' I started t' become ostracized by many members. De date fer de wedding was set t' be soon after Belle an' I both turned 18. However, neither of us wanted t' marry. She had become deceiving and manipulative and had a bloodlust after drinking de Elixir, also became somewhat insane. She's one o' Candra's best servants along wit' her brother Julien. We had been childhood friends, but we had drifted apart as we aged, despite de arrangement o' our marriage at 12."

"One night, me brot'er Henri, Lapin, Emil and I went out and on our way back, we were attacked by some Assassins who were against de joining o' de two Guilds an' de marriage, by way o' Candra, because if de Guilds were t' join an combine forces, we'd be able t' overthrow her an' her influence on bot' Guilds. They had bought weapons an' were out fer blood. Well, we fought back. However, me brot'er was struck down badly by an assassin blade. I can' really explain what happened then, but me powers intensified in dat moment, becoming uncontrollable. Everything I touched became charged an' I had no control. I can usually control de amount o' charge I put int' an object, but at de time, I couldn't. Everything I charged went beyond me usual maximum charge. All de Assassins were severely injured."

"De Assassins and T'ieves had a field day wit' dat fight. All parties involved absolved the shaky peace pact and de marriage was postponed. I was blamed fer my powers malfunctioning at dat moment an all de Assassins wanted my head. Dey didn't kill me, though, since dat would have launched de grounds fer an all out war, since dey already injured Henri terribly."

"It was at dat time dat de mutant hating in de Big Easy really intensified. Bigots were everywhere and wit' my eyes, t'ings really got difficult. My powers also started to become erratic and I would cause random t'ings t' explode, except no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it under control and my empathy started to overload, I couldn't turn it down."

"It was me last year o' high school an' I was lookin' fer new opportunities, I just couldn't stay in N'Awlins anymo', what wit' de mutant hating, de Assassins tryin' t' kill me everywhere I turned, m' fat'er still usin' me, m' powers out o' control an the Guilds battlin' it out. I had been plannin' t' go t' a university out o' state. Somehow, Magneto heard about me predicament an' gave me an offer, t' work wit' him, be his protégé, an' he'd help me control me powers in return and gain power among t' worthless humans I was supposedly above. M' fat'er, me family an I didn't trust him at all. M' father was suspicious o' him as was I, an' we did some diggin' deciding not t' proceed wit' his offer, since he had poor motives an' his missions showed it."

"However, he still somehow cared abou' me, an fer de first time in over a year was actually worried abou' m' well being fer a change, despite m' reasonin' dat he was jus' upset, b'cause his best thief was out of commission. M' powers were steadily decreasing in control. I had an offer from a doctor who could reduce m' mutation by using an operation, but I refused as he was just as shady a character as Magneto. However, Magneto never ceased tryin' t' recruit me."

"I needed help. M' pere had heard dat Stormy was in town due t' a conference, where she was accompanying de professeur. She's an old friend o' m' pere, who pick pocketed wit' him as a child in Cairo." He smirked at Storm when he said this, revealing something he was sure none of the X-Men knew about her. She blushed slightly and the X-Men looked at her slightly shocked.

"He knew abou' some o' de work she did from over de years dey had kept in touch. She informed her o' me predicament and she agreed t' come an' bring Xavier t' help me. Xavier was able t' help m' wit' m' powers almos' immediately an' I once again regained control."

"Over our talks, he discovered Magneto's wish t' recruit me and wit' all de problems facin' de mutant community, he made a proposition, he knew dat I couldn't refuse. He asked m' t' work undercover, as a spy fer him, fer Magneto and use m' skills as a t'ief, t' not only help Magneto wit' his work, but t' garner information fer him dat had t' do wit' de governments o' ot'er countries tryin' t' destroy all mutants. He knew I couldn't refuse an offer t' use m' skills fer some good fer once."

"We hatched a plan between de three o' us t' lure Magneto into thinkin' dat m' control had steadily weakened, thus, allowing him t' contract m' due t' it. He fell fer it, an' a few days later, I signed a contract wit' him. M' fat'er was livid and couldn't believe I would sign wit' him after all he did, an' de fact dat m' powers seemed t' be improving at de time, didn't help matters. It was hard t' make it seem like I was loosing control again. I knew I could use my empathy t' get him t' believe me and see if he ever lost doubt in my trust. Xavier knew because of all my skills I was de perfect one fer de job."

"I tol' him dat I was enrolling t' Columbia University an' dat Bayville was just a train ride away from it an' workin' fer Magneto would better my kind an' a lot o' bull like dat t' get him t' believe I was completely honest about joining de ranks o' Magneto. I jus' couldn't stay in dat place any longer, so I left soon after."

"So I started t' work wit' Xavier through secret. Even though I was contracted wit' Magneto now, m' fat'er had did some bargaining in it, allowing m' t' do work fer d' Guild as well, on special cases, which was de perfect opportunity to do some corporate espionage and steal files from de government and other places who were threatening de existence o' mutants. I would communicate wit' Xavier telepathically sometimes, an' trade an' drop off information by giving it t' Logan at various bars an' meetin' in secret wit' Hank an' Storm, whenever possible. I would rarely see Xavier. I had impressive mental blocks, due t' m' empathy, dat Xavier intensified fer m' when I started t' work fer him, so he wouldn't notice my disloyalty t' him."

"I only tol' John and Piotr here abou' m' work for de professeur abou' two months ago, when I figured out dat somethin' was up wit' Magneto an' he was being evasive an' puttin' us in more an' more risky an' dangerous missions. We figured out dat he was tryin' t' get rid o' us, since he had found new recruits who were willing t' follow him an' not by blackmail. Dey weren't powerful enough an he needed us t' complete dese missions t' fin' something important, an de fact dat we might die doing dem didn't concern him. It only made him wan' t' make us complete dem more."

"Dey decided t' help me out an join, once we were free of Magneto and got out of our mission alive."

"However, when he had been captured by Apocalypse, I had been using my mercenary and Guild work as a cover t' go t' France an' raid a secret compound, which held de information we had been searching fer two years t' find on de Legacy Virus dat is designed t' kill mutants. I knew dat Magneto was lookin' fer de information an dat dere were many compounds spread out over de world dat was forwarding dis virus. So he could have already known some of the t'ings about de virus already an' I was right."

"He found out dat de last phase o' de virus was complete an' all dey needed were live mutant subjects. As one always lookin' t' increase mutant supremacy. He thought it would be good t' send us t' raid de main compound, supposedly wit' out knowin' what we were lookin' fer, an tell de people workin' dere dat dey now had three test subjects t' test de virus on who were tryin' t' raid dere compound anyway. He knew dat if he could expose what de humans were tryin' t' inflict on mutants, then it would be further proof for his cause an' dat three mutants who had been tryin' t' prevent de disease's spread had just been killed and martyred for the cause and dat humans would never accept us."

"I had found out he was plannin' dis on my last raiding in France due t' records kept by de president o' de experiment, William Stryker, kept records of moving a large amount o' de virus t' dere main compound in Colorado and performing experiments in it t' perfect tryin' t' kill us on sight when we came t' raid. All he needed was a date an' he would be able t' test his virus on live subjects."

"However, because o' dis an' his records, I was able t' find schematics fer de compound in Colorado and found out dat de virus only worked when de subjects were exposed t' de virus in de blood. So dey had t' capture us first t' test it on us. They hadn't developed it t' de point o' airborne potency. I also found out dat you were immune t' de disease if y' had been injected wit' a new medicine, called Diomoxyline, dat doctors were using on patients with high blood rates, which slowed down de heart of a normal person, t' de point dat de virus would be ineffective since de blood would be too slow t' spread it an' it can only strike within a four hour period an' once it was over, de virus was dead. It can only feed an' destroy cells when de blood moves it fast enough through your body. And it only affects those with a X-Gene."

"Because we knew dat we would be attacked by dem, we were prepared an' had been injected with Diomoxyline, we were somewhat immune. We took precautions, however and wore protective gear. We were able t' get in unnoticed an' stole most of dere information on de virus as well as samples of it in various stages and potencies before dey found us." He gestured to the items they had handed to the professor earlier at this.

"Dey had found us by using a tracking device modified directly t' de X-Gene, but de damage was done as dey never intended for us t' get so far int' de compound. We found out dere Plan B, while sifting through information, before dey set up dere attack, wit' modified tranquilizers and various other forms of ammunition."

"However, we managed t' escape once we destroyed most o' de compound wit' our powers. Luckily, our protective gear an' de Dioxyline injection held out an' none of us are infected, as de virus kills in six hours an can only be further spread by blood. De problem is, de most potent an dangerous o' de virus is still out dere, as it was stored in different bases, due to anticipation, for if it were t' be destroyed like we did t' it."

"De virus dat is coming is much more deadly dan de one dat we have just avoided, but it is untested. Due t' our raiding, dey believe it is time t' spread it now, an' inflict de entire mutant population. Dey believe dey are running out o' time t' spread it, now dat we know about it."

* * *

The X-Men were all shocked and floored by Gambit's revelations. Not only had he always truly been on their side, he and all three Acolytes had risked their lives to tell them of the impending danger that they all faced as mutants. All were slightly shell shocked as well by Remy's upbringing, especially Rogue as she now understood the full extent of it. However, that paled in comparison to what they now faced as mutants. A group of people were planning their mass genocide.

Rogue would never see Gambit as an enemy ever again, and Gambit and Rogue's relationship had reached a turning point in which it was about to start fully blossoming. The moment it was revealed that he had always truly been on her side in more ways then one started something for her, something that was just about to take notice and emerge from her heart. Gambit was about to find the true place where he belonged in heart and find a new family. One that would never replace the one in New Orleans, but one that understood and accepted him for all that he was in an environment that welcomed it, not pushing it away at every chance. This moment was the start of something, and it was only just beginning.

* * *

YES! I am finally done. This took a lot longer than I thought to type, but it was definitely the easiest chapter to get out of my head thus far. The next chapter will look at that fateful mission, why the X-Mansion is sealed tight, Pyro and Colossus' pasts, a little Romy moment and the boys settling in with the team and their reactions to it.

I made Remy a double agent, because A. it would bug Scott, B. it's Remy, his empathy would totally be an asset to it, C. He's the only viable one for that role, and D. Wolvie would be less bitchy to him when he dates Rogue because he's a good guy and he knows it. I'm just not going to tell you when that happens. I am the all powerful authoress of this story, so too bad.

Yes, all you Romy deprived fans, it's coming soon, just wait.

NEXT UP: **CHAPTER FOUR: MISSIONS.**

Thanks for reading, please be nice and review.

**Author's Notes: Sorry Ishy, I tried, I really did for those breaks, but they just won't work, DAMMIT. No matter what I do. I try slashes, thing and others but it just isn't working. Please help me. I hope you can still understand it alright.**

**March 14th, 2005: I was able to finally put in the breaks, thanks to Ish. So all three chapters now have breaks in place and I am no longer feeling like I am going insane. I'm still kinda irked that doesn't allow you to type chat room symbols and repeat letters more than twice and use weird symbols. It totally bugs me. If someone knows how to overide that, and put in all of the above in reviews, stories etc.., please tell me.**

simba317


	4. Missions

**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters in this story. Marvel does and the people who created Evo. This is just me writing the characters the way I want because I am dissatisfied with how they are on the show sometimes. If they ever bring the show out of hiatus, ask Evo to give me a call. I'd love to write for them.

**Authors Notes: WARNING: LONG CHAPTER ALERT! This is like a super chapter of three really long updates and for the reasons below, it is why it took me so long to update, it's f-ing long, man. Imagine it as three updates; it's just that long and just that long to write, so I'm really sincerely sorry for the longness of updating and the length. **

**I apologize now for the super longness of this chappie, it's just when I started typing, I realized there were some parts I wanted to include and they ran a little long, though they were some good stuff, so I kept it, it wouldn't be like it slowed me down since I already typed it, but anyway, I wanted to include everything I promised from the last chappie, so it just became really, incredibly long. It's like three times the length of Chapters 2 and 3. But just be happy I'll give you all the stuff I mentioned, plus some ROMYNESS. I debated splitting up my chapter and sending in what I had done, but I didn't name the chapter Missions just for the obvious reasons. There is a deeper and second meaning to it, cookies to anyone who figures it out. **

**Remy raided the compound in France when the X-Men were battling Apocalypse. That's the reason he wasn't there fighting and it was mentioned in chapter two. I've been planning that for a while. **

Could you guys please, pretty pretty, please REVIEW. I would make me so unbelievably happy. And happy writers churn out stories faster. Besides it's my SWEET SIXTEEN TODAY, SO PLEASE **_REVIEW!_** I'm a St. Patrick's baby. Too bad I'm not Irish. I just wish you guys would review more because when you don't, it makes me feel like no one actually likes my story. Do you guys like it, or should I just give up now? I don't know if I'm right in doubting myself, but if you really like my story and think I should continue, then review. If not, I'll just curl up and die, and yes, I know I'm being a little overdramatic, but I'm sure you get the gist.

Anyway now that I got that off my chest, I've had a plan for this story for about a week, I just never had time to write it yet. I'm sorry to all who don't like me writing Remy's accent, it's just that the third person gets annoying and way too macho and stereotypical for me. He will use it sometimes, but not all the time and besides, Evo Remy doesn't talk like that. And if I overlap the accents, I'm really sorry, it's just kinda hard to write one and then switch. I have to catch myself when I type in a person's accent.

And as promised this will contain: the mission that went wrong, but how wrong? What dangers wait because of it? Why the mansion is sealed tight. Pyro and Colossus' pasts, a little couple attraction and of course, the ROMY moment. Read on. I'm evil like that. Hehehe.

**OH, and a BIG THANKS goes to ISHANDAHALF, for telling me how to put in the dividers. Thanks to her, there are now dividers in all the chapters for your viewing pleasure. Oooh, my spell check didn't ding that word. I'm always surprised when it doesn't, Ish. **

**Oh yeah, before I forget, I didn't use Sinister as Remy's solution to his powers in this story because I absolutely loathe the problems caused because of him to Remy and Rogue afterwards, a la Morlock Massacre, the whole weird pedophile like obsession he has with Remy on fanfiction and Marvel in how it's like 'you'll never be free of my clutches', the 'end of the world post-kissing abandonment', Rogue-Gambit-Joseph totally pointless love triangle afterwards (if your gonna kill him off after he gets in their relationship, why have him there in the first place), the Antarctica Abandonment and how he's working on low power. If he's on high power, he'd be totally kick ass and put Cyke into even more of a panty bunch. I just hate how he always interferes in people's fanfictions. Yes, he does stuff to Remy in Marvelverse, don't put in Evoverse because there's really no continuity in it with Marvel. He's like a back up villain and he always does the same thing consisting of kidnapping Remy because he's pedophilic and stalkerish, to experiment on, kidnap Rogue for same reasons and to get Remy in the end too, kidnap Cyclops for his experiments for obsessive reasons too, and Jean for the same and Cyke style rescue attempt, or just all the X-Men for experimentation. I just feel that that road has been overdone and it totally bugs me. I just hate Sinister with heated passion for ruining and splitting Romy up in the comics. In fact, if I ever met the person who created him in the first place, I'd give them a hell of a tongue lashing. –Rant ends here- To see all psycho and psychotic rants see bio, other Author's Notes or any review I've written, especially for Agent-G's Hellfire and Brimstone.**

**Sinister will appear on my story, eventually, but will be used as a punching bag to get out all my frustrations with him. Using my high authority as authoress, I will kill him and torture him mercilessly and painfully for all of his crimes against the Romy. And he will not pull them apart in this fic, because I absolutely cannot stand him. **

**The Romy relationship will be imperfect, but not because of him, Belle, secrets of the two of them, or lack of trust. I think it's so much more sensible to use the barrier of touch and their unwillingness to open up as the cause to the delay of the progression of their relationship in the beginning. It's more natural and besides, allows for the beautiful irony of the ultimate lady's man falling for the ultimate untouchable. It's the core and strength to the premise of their relationship. **

**I hope my medical stuff works for you guys, because everything I said about the virus is just made up. I'm 16, and in Bio 15IB, but I really don't know much about medical stuff. Sure I know quite a bit about the cell itself, but medication, no way. A lot of what I say about the virus is from watching shows like ER, CSI and Medical Investigation. Other stuff is just common sense, stuff I remember from hearing somewhere or just plain made up like Diomoxyline. I'm really just shooting around in the dark, so if it's convincing, I've done my job, if not, tell me. **

**In fact, I would like to take a poll, all you agreeing with my Sinister Rant and Romy Rant, send an answer in your review, same for all you objecting and put reasons in it too. **

**Shout Outs: **

**_The Wonderful Bunny on Crack: ISHANDAHALF:_** Thank you so much for telling me how to put in the dividers, it made me feel so much better and like I wasn't totally insane. If you want to check my insanity read the reviews I post for Agent-G's Hellfire and Brimstone, or my bio or any review for that matter, but especially that one. Thanks a bunch of carrots for answering the question about the dividers.

I tried really hard in the beginning to really make people think they were there to attack the mansion and I had to be really careful not to give anything away, so thanks for the compliment. I tried extra hard to fool you all to give the bomb time to drop, so to speak. I hope you enjoyed the surprise. I read back to my last chapter and realized Xavier is practically saying, the Acolytes are attacking, the Acolytes are attacking.

I couldn't resist making Remy the secret agent just because he's so perfect for the job. He's a super stealthy thief, who's done his share of Ocean's 11 style thefts, cat burglary, and pick poketing. Plus he's got that empathy and agility that are like extra bonuses. He can tell if your bullshitting him, lying and all the like. Not to mention awesomely incredible fighting skills, hot body and sexy demon eyes. What more can a girl want? –drools, sighs and daydreams, shakes head, back to reality, damn. How I envy Rogue-

I absolutely had to have some mild Jott/Scott bashing and what better way to infuriate him than with 'I was always on your side', secret agent Remy. Damn that sounds sexy, eh? Secret Agent Remy, Secret Agent Remy, Secret Agent Remy… -puddle of drool, yup. Sigh-

Thank you so much for your review again, Ishy, I always look forward to them and I totally love it when you do, so keep reviewing and yes, as promised ROMY. Does anyone else like my story though, because they're not really reviewing and its freaking me out. Thanks Ish. Ooh, yeah, if your interested in the way Evo secretly bashes Jott, read my bio. Hehehehe.

**Is my Sinister hating unfounded? See above. I just know you will give me the most honest answer. Should my Romy license be revoked if I kill him off painfully? How about my Rott theory? See bottom, before story starts.**

**It's so damned long and I apologize now for the longness. Think of it as reading three long updates and not one super update. Also, apologies for the ranting.**

**Chica De Los Ojos Café: **Yes, aren't I just twisty, hehehe. And Update up.

**Enchantedlight: **Thanks for the compliment and the review, it was much appreciated.

**Thegambit23: **Wait just a little longer. Yes, there is some in this chapter, put you're gonna have to wait like a good little bunny on crack. Thanks for reviewing on my birthday. It makes me feel so much better that people are actually reading my story. Thanks so incredibly much for the reviews. I so cannot believe you actually decided to use my suggestion for the title, I'm so honored, thanks a whole bunch. I know you thought my other chapters were long and I'm so sorry for holding up this update, but I just don't wanna split it up due to the significance of the title.

**Everyone reading: **I have had a strange thought and must share it with you the Rogue/Scott slash is Rott, thereby stating my obvious dislike of it. I despise any pairing of Rogue without Remy or vice versa. Doesn't that slash so state the wrongness to it. Also, doesn't Scrogue just sound like Scrooge? Still really bad. Sure at first, I wanted her to be with Scott instead of Jean on Evo because they are so clichéd, but when I remembered Gambit, from my XTAS infused childhood, I thought they should just get together and free up Rogue for Remy, the perfect X-couple. Jean and Scott have absolutely no good angst on Evo and otherwise. When there is, it is just plain weird and unbelievable. Like:

Hi, I'm married to the love of my life's clone, and have children from two different timelines. I had a psychic affair with a blonde bimbo and the purely sexual slease bag relationship is going great. And, Hi, I'm a part of some greater power using my body and it's not really me, I die so many times, it's hard to count, but I always come back in even more elaborate and weird ways. I'm in love with a scuzz bag who's having a psychic affair and said our 'cornerstone relationship' was just an act. It took about three proposals until we were married and then it falls apart and doesn't work out. My husband starts a relationship with the said bitchy blonde bimbo and kisses her in front of my headstone when I'm dead. Talk about disrespect.

Gahh, had to vent that. However, contradictory this may be, I actually kinda like them together because of the classic boy/girl next door thing, but other than that they need extreme plots for their relationship to exist in Marvel and it annoys the hell out of me. They're good together. Just let them be happy, dammit. Same for the Romy. You've stuck them in Antarctica Abandonment, for Pete's sake, if they can survive that, then it's obviously a long term relationship worth staying put through marriage. They belong together and no one else should be with the other.

Anyway rants over:

**_And without further adieu, Chapter Four. It too is an extra long super chapter. That is the reason for the slow pace of updating. I apologize to all beforehand that don't like long and I do mean long chapters.

* * *

_**

**CHAPTER FOUR: MISSIONS**

"_So this is wot iss like ta 'ave a spook in ya 'ead," analized St. John as he, Remy and Piotr sat aboard a plane, flying to the outskirts of Springfield,Colorado, "How d'ya get used ta it."_

"_Ya doan," stated Remy bluntly as he flew the plane. It was a small, sleek silver plane with all the latest technology on board. It was completely homey, if not somewhat metallic and futuristic; due to Magneto's decorating tastes. He was a little eccentric and obsessive compulsive when it came to metal. The seats were all cushy and made of the finest leather and the only things that appeared nonmetal. It could sit up to eight people in its seats. There was a bathroom in the back as well as a small kitchenette downstairs, along with the large pieces of equipment and luggage they would need for their mission. _

'_You know, I'm right here John,' thought Professor Xavier, with a projected bemused expression into their heads._

"_Crikey, mate, don' do that," squired Pyro, uncomfortably, eliciting a chuckle from Piotr and a smirk from Remy. St. John glared at them both viciously with the best menacing look he could muster, which only sent Piotr into fits of giggles and Remy into hysterics, which wasn't all that good as they were still 30,000 feet in the air. Remy needed to concentrate during the decent. John shrunk back into his seat as he heard the professor too, chuckle at his antics. _

_Currently, Magneto had stopped communicating with them, since they had crossed the state border and were fast approaching Springfield. They had entered radio silence for stealth for more reasons than one. St. John and Piotr had used this opportunity to disengage their radio frequency, tracking devices and other communications devices Magneto had on board to keep their secrecy. _

_Yes, they were doing their mission, just not Magneto's way exactly, besides they didn't want to waste the information they would steal by dying. They had found out that he was double-crossing them, when Remy found the records of their preplanned infiltration of USBase78LV Springfield._

_Remy had already used his computer to send doctored footage of their mission to Magneto on a special timer. Magneto always recorded their missions to know if they did their missions without error. It was this way that they would fake their deaths. Usually, he would do it 'secretly', but he had employed a double agent thief, so of course Remy had known that he had been doing this with small devices hidden on their clothing. _

_They had filmed it earlier at the base, one night, on route to Los Angeles for another hazardous mission, faking transport problems. They had gone off course because of 'malfunctioning' equipment on their plane. All they had done was secretly gather 360 degree footage of the compound, in all the areas they would go during their last mission. They had also stolen samples of the clothing, and other things that they would need as props. And Forge would do the rest under the guise of a new battle simulation for the Danger Room._

_(I figure if Forge can build just about anything, he could create special effects and doctored footage too.)_

_The mood in the room was tense and the professor didn't need to be a telepath to see it. He had started a telepathic link with Cerebro, once they had crossed the Colorado state line to give the boys support and advice on the mission. The boys were about to start a mission that would determine the fate of the mutant race and he wished he could do more for them, but knew he couldn't. Both Pyro and Colossus had assured that allowing Gambit to tell him of his real job and giving them a spot as X-Men was enough to give the boys back their hope for living a good life and reason enough for them to go through with the mission. _

_However, both boys had been stunned and utterly shocked when their good friend finally revealed his long withheld secret to the two of them.

* * *

_

_**They had just survived yet another one of Magneto's dangerous missions that all boys felt would get them killed in one way or another and had gone to a bar to take the edge off of the 'I just escaped death, again' feeling. **_

_**They had gone to Harry's Hideaway, a frequent of the Wolverine, known only by Gambit, to finally break the news to them as neither boy was currently happy with their situation and wanted out, badly. All boys had been blackmailed into doing Magneto's deeds, after signing a seemingly likable agreement. Colossus wanted to be free to see his family in Russia without the fear of persecution and Pyro just wanted to be free of the crimes he was accused of and have his name cleared. **_

**_Pyro wore an orange skateboarding T-shirt with flames on the front and the name of a skate shop on it, as well as a black zip up hoodie with Metallica screened in red. His baggy dark blue faded blue jeans were hanging on his hips punk style with a studded belt holding them up. He had a pair of red and black skateboard shoes with white trim on his feet. He also wore studded wrist cuffs. His hair was impeccably spiked. He had a shiny blue puffy down jacket to keep out the cold as well. His gloves and earmuffs were stuffed in his pockets. _**

**_Gambit wore his favorite pair of baggy, well fitted, worn blue jeans with rips at the knees with a black leather alternately studded belt with more holes for the clasp thingy than was needed. He also wore his favorite pair of heavy black boots that looked like a cross between biker boots, combat boots and hobnail boots that his jeans were stuffed into. He wore a casual long sleeved black and red base ball tee with a pair of dice on the front. A deep blue zip up hoodie ensured he would be warm enough. A strange crest charm on a ball chain type necklace, with extra large balls (weird sequence of words, don't think dirty things) was on his neck. If one could identify the charm, one would know it was the LeBeau family crest, the symbol of the Thieves Guild. Sunglasses covered his eyes, a wrist cuff and large watch were on his wrists along with fingerless gloves on his hands and his trademark long brown trench coatTM that he wore everywhere was also present, but winterized to be warmer, contained his head band and gloves that actually kept out the winter cold. _**

**_Colossus wore a pair of dark blue stonewashed jeans with a simple brown belt made of supple leather. A thick black turtleneck sweater of wool was pulled over a white T-shirt. He wore a warm pair of black boots that looked a cross between hiking boots and combat boots. He had stuffed his black toque into his olive green and black ski jacket that had white trim, along with his black gloves. _**

_**Remy had just ordered them a round of beers and John and Piotr knew something was up, he wasn't to his usual caliber of flirting and the enthusiasm of it was lacking as well. They knew his flirting and rounds of women was something he used to take his mind of some dark pain that he had not revealed as of yet. He was a charmer and a flirt, true, but he was in no ways dishonorable. It had been etched into him as a young child in the Guild and it was something he held onto like a lifeline. He was a playboy, true, but he was also searching, for that one, he had though he had, but never really did. She wasn't the one, just a go- between to make him realize it, no matter how much it had hurt. **_

_**Something was on his mind tonight, and it wasn't his usual darkness. His darkness was covered by his ways with women and it still was, it just wasn't in full action tonight, not yet, anyway. John and Piotr knew he was on the verge of telling them something, and that something was truly what both boys had been searching for, but without success. Both were on the precipice of disparity due to their circumstances, and although his face hid it, Remy was about to relight the flicker of hope that had been waning in the boys of late. **_

**_The three boys picked up their drinks from the bar and Remy led them to a secluded corner of the bar, that was half hidden in darkness, where people would not approach them, he knew. He was looking for privacy and as much secrecy as possible and a bar with hundreds of loud inebriated patrons was perfect. Even Sabertooth couldn't pick up their conversation here without drawing attention to himself here, besides, Remy had made sure he hadn't followed them and he could easily sense him with his empathy, so at the moment, he was of no concern. _**

_**They sat down at a booth in the corner and tossed their jackets on it. **_

_**The bar was that faint yellow glow, that bars had, that strange bad lighting that they all had for attempted atmosphere. The furniture was all a dark heavy wood. There were small circular tables in the center of the bar, larger circular booths on the outside and the darker more ominous area they were headed towards now with their drinks. A jukebox churned out some old and new rock tunes, some harder than others. A buzz was heard from those who were talking in the bar. Several pool tables took up the raised area at the back of the bar. There were some pinball machines as well that made some high pitched dinging noises every now and then as well. **_

"**_Wot's on ya mind that's gotcha so quiet that ya haven't been flirtin' up ta par?" questioned St. John with a rather observant look on his face, replacing the usual look of insanity and mischievousness. _**

"_**Wot?" he asked again, as Piotr and Remy sent him slightly surprised looks, "I'm noyt that dense, mate."**_

"_**Really, Oy'm noyt," he clarified as both still looked as him strangely. **_

"_**Yes, comrade, somethink has made you very quiet and out of character tonight. Somethink zhat even John notices," added Colossus. **_

"_**Well, y' two woul' be right, hommes. I've got somethin' t' tell y'," stated Remy in a non-committal tone, to ease the gravity of what he was going to say. **_

"_**Yoor gay, arncha, mate?" exclaimed St. John, suddenly, like a bunch of light bulbs had just gone off in his head. **_

_**Remy did a spit take of the liquid that was currently in his mouth, due to the incredibility of Pyro's accusation. It arced above the table and went all over John's face, making the flaming style of his hair become limp. He looked at St. John like he had just gone off the deep end for good. Colossus was trying hard not to laugh at Remy's horrified expression and John's drowned fire rat look, failing miserably. He gave a deep vibrating chuckle and had to keep a hand on the table to keep from falling over in laughter. Remy didn't know what was worse, St. John thinking he was gay and looking like he had just killed his dog, or the usually stoic and well mannered Piotr laughing his ass off. **_

"_**Oy'll tayke that as a no," said St. John after an awkward moment had passed, trying not to look like flames being doused by a rainstorm, failing somewhat. **_

"_**Vell, comrade, you should tell us now, before our minds come up vith even more ludicrous ideas," said Colossus, good humouredly. **_

"_**Yeah, mate, spit it oyt," added John, not wanting to be soaked with alcohol again. **_

"_**I'm not 'zactly sure how t' go 'bout dis, so I guess I'll just have t' start from de beginning," started Remy. **_

_**Both boys nodded and listened intently as he began his story. **_

"_**Y' bot' know de situation in N'Awlins and why I joined Buckethead, right?" started Remy.**_

"**_Yeah, ya pop was on some kinda trippah Elixir thingy, and actin' all zombie like, ya supposed ta marry some psycho shiela, ya powahs were off, an' bigots were havin' a field day with us mutants. So ya join Magsy 'cause 'e's the onlah one who can help 'cha with ya powahs and take ya away from alla the insanity o' New Orleans. Not ta mention, Bayville's a hell 'o a lot closah ta Columbia then N'Awlins. Plus ya wanted ta get out in the world an' away from the Guild and wit' ou' their ties. And workin' for Old Buckethead gives ya a nice paycheck at the end 'ovc the month, so ya can pay the rent and all o' that jazz," said St. John thoughtfully as he counted off Remy's reasons with his fingers. _**

_**Remy nodded as Piotr asked unbelievingly, "How did you remember all zhat?"**_

"_**Oy'm insulted, mate," said John with a mock pain on his face, "Oy've gotta keep track 'ove these things, like Oy keep trach o' the charactahs in my book, so I don't write anything inconsistent."**_

_**Piotr nodded thoughtfully, John was more than what most people took him for, and it always seemed to catch him off guard for it, when he did. **_

"_**Well, movin' on den," restarted Remy, after the interruption, "Dat's only half of de reason I joined Bucketheads 'crusade'," he air quoted, "Dere's another reason why I joined and it had nothin' t' do wit' m' powers malfuntionin'. True, dey had gotten out of control, an' I did get them under control, eventually, but it wasn' Magneto that helped me do it."**_

"_**It was Xavier," he said slowly, after an uncomfortable pause. **_

_**His audience was shocked, to put it mildly. They stared at him dumbly. **_

"**_WOT?" "VHAT?" they both shouted baffled. _**

"_**Keep it down!" hissed Remy as a few people stared.**_

"'_**E's just comin' out," called out John to the curious spectators. **_

_**Remy punched him the arm hard. **_

"_**E's wife's havin' a baby," he called, trying again.**_

_**Remy punched him in the arm hard, again.**_

"**_E's proposed to his girlfriend," called John again, with less enthusiasm, trying to avoid a third punch. By now, the patrons had realized he was one of 'those "special" people' and just ignored him. _**

"**_May I continue?" glared Remy at John, which was all the more menacing with his red eyes and black scleras, like a demon glaring at you._**

_**St. John gulped and said, "Yeah," weakly quiet.**_

"_**About two years ago, when m' powers started t' malfunction, it wasn' Magneto dat helped m' wit' dem, it was Xavier. M' father had kept in contact wit' one o' de Institute's teachers, Ororo Munroe, over de years, since he knew her from when he was younger and had gone pick pocketing in Cairo. He knew of their work an' knew dat dey were de only people who could help m'."**_

"_**Even t'ough we'd been havin' our differences due t' de control Candra had over him because of de Elixir, he still was m' pere at times, rare as dey were, an' still cared when he wasn' so heavily influenced by it."**_

"_**So since she was in town wit' Dr. Hank McCoy an' de professeur at de time, due t' a genetics conference in de Big Easy, m' fat'er contacted her an' asked her t' help. I could tell she had been surprised o' de changes in m' fat'er at first, but knew it wasn' her place t' deal wit' de External when dere were two Guilds already tryin' t' deal wit' it. She agreed t' help m' due t' their goals fer mutants an' de rest o' de humanity and knew dat deep down, he had not changed."**_

"_**When de professeur helped m' wit' m' powers, I gained back control almost immediately. I was happy t' get back t' where I was able t' function, but he sensed dat I was unhappy abou' what was goin' on in m' life at de time."**_

"_**I mean de nigh' dat m' powers got ou' o' control, m' brot'er, Henri was injured severely, an because mutations are often triggered by high stress situations, dey mutated t' become ou' o' control, an', as y' know, I injured all de assassins dat attacked us, just as bad, if not worse den Henri, because o' it. An' because o' it, de peace 'tween de Guilds, fragile as it was collapsed. De marriage was postponed, thank God."**_

"**_But dere was still so much in dat city dat was negative at de time, so I just had t' leave an' soon. I had been accepted int' Columbia University t' continue m' studies, after a transfer from Louisiana State, as I had graduated early, an' was lookin' forward t' leavin' it behind an' startin' fresh after de bigotry in de south began t' spread like wildfire and burn all de mutants t' death. Also I jus' couldn' take m' pere usin' m' t' do all o' de dirty work an' usin m' for m' powers an' abusin' dem. I knew it was 'cause o' de Elixir, but I couldn' take it anymore. De assassins also had put out a price on m' head, however, dey couldn't kill m' outright, as dat would allow us t' start an all out war."_**

"_**Y' see, de professeur an' I had been talkin' abou' mutant affairs an' m' opinions on it, as he's always lookin' fer recruits and I mentioned dat Magneto had been tryin' t' recruit m' upon hearin' bout de problems wit' m' powers, but m' family had done some diggin' an' didn't like what he had done. So I refused all of his offers."**_

"**_Upon hearing dis, he spoke t' Ororo, Hank, an' Logan, via de phone, an' came up wit' an offer dat I couldn' refuse. Y' see, he knew I was tired o' just stealin' all m' life fer seemingly no higher purpose. So he asked m' t' fake a worse 'bout of m' malfunctionin' powers an' use m' skills t' become a double agent fer him between him an' Magneto, t' keep an eye on his business, as he didn' wan' t' be unprepared again, like in de whole Asteroid M an' fiasco."_**

"_**He knew wit' m' empathy I would be ideal fer de job along wit' m' skills as a t'ief an' de connections dat come along wit' dat. An' m' empathy can penetrate his helmet, where telepathy cannot. Any telepath would also have problems readin' m' mind due t' m' natural an' self made mental blocks an empathy."**_

"_**Not only did he ask m' t' be a mole, he also asked m' t' be his source o' de latest mutant annihilation attempts by governments and humanitarian groups through espionage due t' m' t'ievery skills. He knew m' fat'er would never let m' work solely fer Magneto due t' m' skills an' dat I could use Guild jobs as an excuse t' go an' steal intel fer him."**_

"**_I agreed as I was up fer de challenge o' dat job an 'sides I was tired o' not bein' able t' go anywhere wit'out people bein' asses. Also, I was tired o' de bigotry an' all dat jazz an' figured Xavier's dream seemed way more appealin' dan Magneto's crusade. All I had t' do was join Magneto on de pretense o' m' powers an' convince m' fat'er dat Xavier woul' not be able t' help m' wit' m' powers anymo' because dey were too out o' control even fer him t' help m' an' Magneto was de only one who could, which wasn' dat hard, since I put on m' charm power."_**

"_**So dere y' have it, fer de last two years, I've been secretly workin' fer de X-Men. So secretly dat de only people who know are Xavier, Storm, Beast an' de Wolverine. I know y' two don' believe in Magneto's ideals anyway an wanna join Xavier, because de world he wants is a lot better dan Magneto's. Workin' fer him has only made m' see dat clearer. I mean he doesn' really care abou' de well being o' his members, as long as de job is done, he's happy. He doesn' care if we wind up in body bags and we might've well been in dem, after dat last disaster."**_

_**Piotr and John, who both had been listening intently to his story and agreed fully with what he had said. Xavier's dream and his means of getting them were a lot better than Magneto's. His students were a family and truly cared for each other, while Magneto didn't, as long as the end justified the means, he was happy to do whatever it took to do it, no matter how immoral it was. The three boys had formed a band of brothers in this hostile environment, due to the camaraderie they shared. All of them had **seemingly** joined out of necessity and didn't believe in his cause. They believed in Xavier's dream because, as unlikely as it was to happen, it was much better than Magneto's. It had been shown in history that when two races work together instead of against each other, they had come out stronger and more prosperous. It may have been an impossible dream, but it was only impossible if there was no one who believed in it. **_

_**Piotr had long wanted to join the X-Men, however, Magneto had reached him before Xavier had and when he had told him of his crusade, he had used half truths and euphemisms to win his trust. He told him of the cruelty of the humans and how he was superior and perhaps he had been hypnotized by his words and persona when he said it. Magneto had enough proof to back it up as well. **_

**_The Russians were in a state of uproar and the mutant persecution was almost unbearable. He knew that they were being killed and that his presence on his family farm only made it a target. So he had left and went to America, for more opportunity, to be free of persecution and discover his art for Magneto had suggested he apply to Julliard or Columbia for his Art Studies as he had graduated from High School early to help out on the farm. _**

**_However, as he began to work for him, he saw through his lies and into the truth, he saw his coldness and his inability to give coexistence a chance. He had seen in America that all things were possible and had even seen normal humans frown upon the bigotry of fellow mutants to bigots. In Canada, the government was currently giving mutants their rights and freedoms as their charter of rights set down by their forefathers had given equality to all peoples, despite race, religion or nationality and knew that if one nation dedicated to world peace was willing to coexist, others would eventually see the light and do so as well. _**

_**John was definitely not stupid. He may put on that mask of stupidity but he knew that all of Magneto's ploys would only make the world suffer. He had seen the potential and all that was possible if someone just took a chance and tried to coexist with humans and Xavier was that person. Magneto could not and would not see the world as a place that was like Xavier's, but he did. He was shown that not all people despised and hated him for who he was and that there was good in the world despite it all. **_

_**Magneto did not care about him, or Remy or Piotr, they had almost gotten killed, again and he had not even bothered to check their wellbeing, he just asked if they got the job done and took what intel they had gathered. More and more, he feared that they would be martyred for a cause that they didn't approve of. **_

_**He had only joined because of what Magneto had said in the beginning had sounded so much better than what he had, he didn't know Xavier's dream at the time, so he decided that Magneto was as good as it gets. He had joined out of necessity as well. He had been framed for arson, his mutation only gave the accusers more leverage and he would rot in jail for the rest of his life due to his mutation, if he didn't leave now. Besides he just couldn't take being used for his mutation like Remy had by his good for nothing 'parents', the mutant intolerance or the juvenile delinquency anymore, so he decided to join Magneto. **_

_**He would have better opportunities and besides his façade of being dumb, Magneto saw his intelligence hidden within himself and in his writing and had offered to help him get into University to study Literature to improve on it. He had fallen into Magneto's trap as he had been the first person in a long while to give him hope, encouragement and belief in himself.**_

**_Both boys did not have the resources that Remy had to see Magneto's faults from the start and had to find out the hard way his callousness to the world. Remy knew if it weren't for the information he and the rest of the Guild had dug up on Magneto, he would have bought his bull shit and joined when he began negotiating with the Guild. _**

"_**So Gumbo, you pretty much got that out of the way, now all ya gotta do is tell me whatcha found on your latest walk with death, settle the future living arrangements, and keep a tight lid on the act you're pulling," said a gruff voice. **_

**_The boys turned and saw the Wolverine approach their table from a smaller one in the center of the room where he had been drinking his beer, until Remy had broke his secret to the boys. He swaggered over across the bar with a beer in his hands. As he crept closer to their table, Colossus and Pyro tensed up, but once seeing Gambit's nonchalance towards their Magneto's enemy, they realized he was there only as a in between man to get information to the mansion inconspicuously. Besides, he had not taken an aggressive stance in any way and was just there to talk to them from his non threatening body language._**

**_Logan wore a black jean jacket with a plain white T-shirt and worn jeans with a black leather belt. He also had black leather biker boots on. His biking gloves were stuffed into the pockets of his worn dark leather jacket that he held with his free hand along with his blue helmet._**

"**_Pretty much," replied Remy as he took an extra chair from another table and moved it to the front of their booth to sit down, so he could se all of them when conversing with them. He also slung his jacket over the back of the chair and put his helmet on the floor next to the table, since the rest of the boys had left their jackets on the booth seats beside them when they sat down._**

"**_Oh, and Cajun," snarled Wolverine, "Don't you ever pull that shit you did with Rogue back in September again. Sure, your dad's been captured and hell, I would probably do the same, but that's beside the point. And don't give me the 'She was on the edge and totally needed to escape for a few days' routine. I've heard it; I don't buy it, bub. I restrained myself for Chuck's grand scheme, so don't you ever do it again or I will slice you six ways from Sunday."_**

"**_Yes, I know, I thought we had been over dis before an' dat y' were over it," countered Gambit with his usual cockiness when threatened by the Wolverine. He was the only man who Logan had come across who was somewhat unaffected by his threats and not bullshitting him. _**

"_**You're just lucky you're a good drinking buddy, bub," stated Logan dryly and although, he would never admit it to his cocky face, he liked the Cajun mutant, he reminded the man of himself, and was the only one he could really stand at the mansion for long periods in a room besides Rogue. He was no goody-goody just like himself and Rogue, definitely not a hero's hero, but still honorable.**_

"_**Cajun, I don't know why you get let in, but you boys are all still underage."**_

"_**O'ly in America," returned Remy, he was used to the man's hostility and knew it was a Logan thing; it was his way of saying he cared. **_

"_**What should I call them besides Psycho and Muscles, Gumbo?" inquired Logan. **_

"**_Well," Remy started, gesturing across from him to the still damp Aussie, "dis is St. John Allerdyce," then gesturing to his right continued, "and Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin."_**

"**_Ya cain call me Pyro o' juss John," provided John, with a heavy Aussie accented_** **_voice._**

"**_Youss may call me Peter, or Pete, bezides Piotr and also Colossus," added Piotr in his Russian accented voice._**

"_**Doyn' forget Petey," finished John and Piotr nodded in agreement.**_

**_Wolverine snorted at their animated antics and said, "I'm Logan. You should tell your buddies Magneto's 'Great Plan', before they get overwhelmed."_**

_**John and Piotr were still too shocked with it all to speak much, getting out their names was about it on the speaking part. **_

"_**Right," started Remy.**_

"**_Due to de recent recruits dat are actually loyal t' his cause, Magneto plans to kill us," Remy deadpanned, earning a slight chuckle from Logan._**

"_**Woy Oy'm my noyt really surprised?" asked John halfheartedly.**_

"_**Becuss, ve vere expectink somethink like zhis?" suggested Piotr.**_

_**John just nodded dejectedly.**_

"**_Vhat is he plannink exactly?" questioned Piotr, "and how did youss find out about zhis?"_**

"_**He plans to kill all of you with the Legacy Virus. I'm sure you've heard about it from the research you've been lifting for Old Buckethead," said Logan, "It's a trap he set up for you guys, when you finally lift some intel from their HQ in Colorado in about two months."**_

"_**We found out about this when Gambit did some recon in France during the time we were off fighting Apocalypse under the guise of stealin' fer the Guild," he added. **_

"_**Weren't ya in New Orleans at the time, mate?" asked Pyro.**_

"**_I was, I had stayed dere after I rescued mon pere t' see Henri, Merci and mon Tante Mattie among others. Dey convinced m' t' stay fer awhile and feel t'ings out; dey wanted m' t' stay fer good and t'ought dat Magneto dyin' was a good a reason as any. However, I told dem dat I would do a few jobs in Paris fer dem, stay a few weeks an' leave, since not'ing had changed, only got worse, an' I had better t'ings t' do, besides stealin' fer no purpose, but enjoyment all m' life. Dey just didn't know dat I was workin' fer Xavier an' when Magneto turned ou' t' be alive, dey knew I woul' go back t' work fer him, due t' m' contract," explained Remy. _**

"_**Right, bub," continued Logan, "Magnet Man gave information anonymously to Stryker, who's makin' the virus, that you would attack their base, once you raided their other bases and had all the information you needed to breach their headquarters. He also told him that you were mutants and would be able to have three live subjects to study the effect of the virus on. It was part of his bigger plan of taping it and releasing it into the public, so that all mutants would see the horror of humanity, go to his side of mutant superiority, since getting all of you, his disloyal, yet useful henchmen out of the picture would make it so that he could have those who really believed his crusade. He figured by martyring you guys for his cause would justify the ends and the fact that you weren't exactly loyal followers never hurt, despite being the best he's got."**_

"**_So vhat do we do now?" asked Colossus sadly, he had known Magneto would want to kill them, eventually, but he never imagined he'd be so callous and give them such a violent, painful end. _**

_**John looked grim and nodded in agreement to what Peter had said. **_

"**_Well, I've always known dat bot' o' y' aren't exactly happy wit' Magneto an' his ways an' I had told Xavier and de rest o' dem your situations. I knew y' didn't like what y' were doin' fer Buckethead an' didn't like we're t'ings were goin' wit' him or believe in his crusade. I knew y' bot' much rather join de X-Men, after y' saw Magneto's ways .Xavier, Logan, Ororo and Hank had always agreed dat once we could defunct from de Acolytes in a safe way, dat y' would be allowed t' join."_**

_**Logan nodded in agreement. He had always wanted to end the boys' plight with Magneto for the fact that they had to do terrible and dangerous things for cause they did not believe in. All were with Magneto due to circumstance and blackmail. After, Xavier had learned how Magneto had recruited them, he knew he had to be on top of it and get to the mutants that needed help before Magneto did. **_

_**Wolverine knew Gambit was a person after his own heart. They did shady things, but only for the cause they believed in. He even liked him. After all, he wasn't like a pansy and he knew how to fight and fight well. He also did what needed to be done. And if it weren't for the facades he had, Wolverine knew he was an introvert on the inside. He sensed it was true from their first meeting. **_

"**_We had to warn you boys about the trap, because although it's dangerous to even go through with the mission, after learning the truth, it's a necessary evil. The information in that lab must be retrieved because the survival of the mutant race depends on it. The Legacy Virus is designed to kill everything with an X-Gene. However, before they bring out the big guns of it, LV1X683, they need to test the weaker strains to see if they actually work on live subjects, which is why they will be testing LV1X529 on you guys when you raid the base. That way they can make alterations to their ultimate strain to increase its efficiency. I wouldn't blame you boys if you aren't up for the suicide mission now, but the question is, besides Remy, are you in or out, bubs?" stated Logan as he explained their mission, should they accept. _**

"_**It's not really a total suicide mission," started Remy. The others stared at him surprised. **_

"_**On m' last intel run at de New York base, before our latest mission an' after de last time I met Logan, two weeks ago, I found ou' dat de lower strain virus dat dey will be testin' on us has a weakness," he said as he reached into one of the many hidden pockets in his trench coat and pulled out a minidisk, files and his minicomputer and handed them to Logan, who immediately uploaded the files on the computer for viewing and flipped through the files. **_

"_**Y' see, de virus is spread through de bloodstream, where it on a cellular level, attaches ont' y' X-Gene, present in de chromatin, de chromosomes stored in de nucleolus before cell division. It clogs up de chromatin not allowing it t' untangle itself in prophase, de first step of cell division or mitosis. (I'm a Bio 15 IB student, I know all about cell division and what not, way more than I'm supposed to. I'm making up the stuff about clogging up the chromatin in cell division though. The nucleolus is located in the nucleus of the cell, which is like the command center of the cell. It contains the genetic material of the cell. Before the genetic material splits in cell division, the strands of DNA are called chromatin. When they untangle themselves and after they split, it's then they become chromosomes. Can't remember if that's totally correct. Anyway, if a cell's not able to divide, you'd pretty much die, because you can't replace any of the dead cells in your body. If any of you guys have questions about this, just ask in your review and I'll answer it in my next update, sometime next week.) By clogging up de chromatin, it makes it so dat de chromatin cannot untangle and if it can't; your cells are pretty much stuck and cannot divide. By making de cell unable t' divide, it kills it. O' course, dis will be happenin' t' way more dan one cell, and if none o' your cells can divide, due t' your X-Gene, you'll eventually die."**_

"_**However, for de weak strain of the virus to work, your blood has t' be circulating at a normal rate. It can only affect your body if it is pumping at a normal to high heart rate, however, if your blood is slow, it cannot stick to your cells and enter de cell membrane, then permeate int' the nuclear membrane of de nucleus and int' the nucleolus that holds de chromatin. De speed of your blood influences how fast de virus kills you, if de blood is fast, dere will be more heat available which increases de diffusion rate of de virus into the cells, thus into de nucleolus and chromatin."**_

"_**Also, the strain dat dey are planin' t' use on us will only work if it enters the blood. So they have to inject it int' our blood. Ingestion kills de virus in de stomach due t' de acid. De airborne strains are not ready t' use yet. So we can protect ourselves by usin' a new pharmaceutical drug called Diomoxyline. It is used in patients with high blood rates an' it slows de blood down. On a normal person, it woul' slow de blood enough, so dat de virus doesn't spread. Y' can function normally, but y' heart rate is significantly less. You're slower, but not noticeably so. Also, it lowers your body temperature, which is also a bonus, because it woul' reduce de diffusion rate o' de virus int' de cells." (I've explained he goes to university at Colombia, so anyway, I'm sure Remy would be smart enough to know this, and if he didn't learn it from class, he'd read it up.)**_

"**_Also, because dis strain has t' enter y' blood t' work, we'll wear protective clothing an' masks, just in case fer de surprises. We'll pro'ly need t' get some samples o' de virus as well as destroyin' de base t' slow dere efforts, even though de super strain o' de virus is stored in many bases just in case somethin' happens t' one site or base. And de virus dey're goin' t' test only has a strike time of four hours, once it's in de blood t' do its work, if it doesn't do so in dat timeframe, it dies and is harmless and flushes out of your body safely. So what d'y' think, y' willin' t' come wit' m' on dis last crazy deat' trap?"_**

"'_**Course mate, since Magsy wan's t' kill us off, we migh' as well turn da tables," agreed John, his loyalty to his friend showing. **_

"_**Comrade, vhat would da mutant race do vithout us? I shall join youss to get de information, destroy ze base and risk my life for de cause one last time. And diss time, we'll be doink it for da right one," nodded Colossus. **_

"_**Great, bubs, so it's set, the two a you will join Cajun on the mission to get the virus, destroy the base without spreading the virus and get the information and samples for us, so that Furball or Ape can make a cure. Also, you'll need to fake your deaths and doctor any footage Magneto might try to tape. I'm sure you'll know how to do that, Gumbo," summarized Logan, "We'll meet later to discuss the final details of the mission and to exchange more information as it comes with Gambit's progress and the three of you stealin' it from Magnet Man and withholding it from him on future mission, blah blah blah."**_

_**They nodded their heads as Logan signaled the waitress to bring them more drinks. **_

"_**Oy'm curious, mate, how'd ya give da information ta da X-Men, an is this de only way ya gave da information ta Wolverine, because weren't we always wit' cha when we went ta da bars?" questioned the crazy Aussie.**_

"_**I'm zhure zhat you also vent to ze bars alone, but I too comrade, am curious as to how you traded ze information," confirmed the gigantic Russian.**_

_**Wolverine and Gambit exchanged a quick humored glace before Remy said, "No, I didn't always drop or get information when you y' two were wit' me at de bars we went t'. Sometimes, I'd drop off de intel at a assigned meetin' place or we'd do a switch by usin' identical hidden objects made courtesy of a very confused Forge, from what I hear," he glanced at Wolverine when he mentioned Forge, winked and the two had a good laugh. **_

"_**Yeah, we were practically spies or somethin' with the ways we used to exchange information," started a reminiscing Wolverine, "When ya were with Gumbo at a bar, we'd talk, switch an' exchange in the washroom. We met him at crazy, highly populated places like restaurants, city streets, parks and other places like that. Come to think of it, some of the best ones were when Chuck and Gumbo here would pretend to be grandson and grandfather, or son and father at some fancy restaurant…We pretty much did anything out of a spy movie or show. 'Ro got hooked to that Alias show because of it for ideas and Chuck and Hank now have a strange obsession with spy movies. The kids think they do it to prepare them for something, or it's some form of subliminal training. Quite funny, actually."**_

"_**Sometimes Stormy woul' meet me and sometimes it'd be de Bete, but mostly it was Logan, due t' his habits, since it would raise de fewest questions as to why he would be gone. I'd only meet de professor on de occasions we truly needed t' talk face t' face," continued Remy.**_

"_**Oh, and before I forget, bubs, Chuck wants you guys to start packing up your things and secretly and discreetly start dropping them off with me at assigned locations, so that when you move, you don't have to go through a totally PO'd Magneto who thinks you're dead," instructed Wolverine, "Just bring small bags and backpacks of things to drop sites, drop them and I'll take care of the rest. When you fake your death on the final mission and fly back from Colorado to join us, you'll have all your things waiting for you in the mansion."**_

_**With that, the four of them ordered several more rounds of drinks and got to know each other and the Wolverine better with a couple rounds of pool. The double-crossing Acolytes were not expected into the base until sometime very early, or late, depending on how you looked on it. And Logan, well, he was Logan, he didn't have anyone ever expecting him to come home at certain times and definitely did not have a curfew. He was mysterious like that. **_

_**Too soon, they found themselves saying goodbye and leaving. As Wolverine strapped or stored all the things the boys had given him onto his bike, he found himself hoping that the boys would make it out of that last mission alive. He knew that even if the X-Men could help fully, it would be pointless because they had not been trained like spies to go into government facilities, yet, and the boys were truly the only ones skilled enough for the job. **_

_**He knew Gambit could get them in and out easy enough, but whether or not they got caught or killed due to the dangerous mutant detection technologies that Stryker had was another thing all together. He knew 'Chuck' and the rest of the adults had recruited him especially for things like this, due to his Thief skills, but this mission went past the call of duty. And Wolverine knew that he would owe the boys his life, if their mission was successful, hell, all of them would. Logan just wished he could help them out more in some way. **_

_**He wanted nothing more than to go with the boys on the mission just to make sure nothing went wrong, but knew that Gambit had the skill to do that himself and that if he did, he'd blow their cover, put them in an even more dangerous situation and jeopardize their existence even more. It was times like these where he wished things were simpler and he could just slice and dice anything that threatened them. But, as Ororo so wisely stated, 'By the Goddes, the world just isn't ever going to be that way.'**_

**_So as he hopped on his bike and watched the boys drive away that snowy November night in one of Magneto's specialized SUVs, he hoped against hope that he'd get to welcome them into his home, buy them another round of drinks and hassle Gumbo once more for abducting Rogue when the mission was over. It was with a heavy heart that he finally put on his helmet, revved the engine on his Harley and sped, down the snowy dark roads of Bayville, to his home where he trained his children with the professor, doctor and former African goddess. _**

_**He tried to think optimistically, he was going home after a successful meeting with the Cajun's buddies, had more information to pass on to his other three coconspirators, somewhat new recruits and his beautiful 'Ro. Yup, he tried to think of going home to his girlfriend, instead of informing her and his colleagues of the danger they were placing those boys in, for the good of both mankind and mutantkind, but still treacherous nonetheless. He knew that Gumbo and the rest of the boys knew that they were reluctant to send them on this mission, but also knew it was necessary for their very continued existence. **_

_**That night, when he joined the three in the professor's study, the air seemed heavier and more stagnant than ever. It had been steadily increasing the past few months, even after Apocalypse's defeat; however, never had it been heavier on that night. All of them were questioning whether they had the right to send the boys to do that dangerous mission, they knew Magneto wouldn't even blink an eye to send them, but despite their faults, they cared about the boys, despite the fact that they didn't even know two of them. All of them sincerely hoped that they would get to know John and Piotr like friends and family, instead of the imposed enemies. More than anything, they all wished they could better know the three who were about to save mutantkind.**_

**_(I wanted to include this part to give some details on the virus and to give a perspective as to how Remy would give Logan, Ororo, Hank and Xavier the information. I included the part with Logan at the end to really show the contrast in attitude towards the boys between Professor X and Magneto, also to show that they don't judge them for their pasts and choices. I wanted to make John an X-Men, instead of B-Hood Boy because I enjoy it more when he's on the same team as Colossus and Gambit. I think they'd truly be like Magneto's super team and that they'd bond over their circumstances. I wanted John to be crazy, but still intelligent and have layers to his character. He writes Romance novels after all, so why not. He's not the stupid person, or Magneto wouldn't've hired him. The Acolytes are more competent than the B-Hood, remember. )

* * *

_**

"_We'll be landing in five minutes and transferring to de vehicles in de back t' get t' de base, hommes, so get ready," said Gambit from his place in the pilot seat. _

_Piotr and John stated their acknowledgment of his instructions and buckled up for the ascent. _

'_Before you boy reach the compound, I wish you all luck and a safe return,' though Professor Charles Xavier genuinely, 'I know Ororo, Hank, Logan and I all look forward to your official membership to the X-Men and that we truly and sincerely wish to get to know you better. We also know that the rest of the X-Men, before finding this out, will be hostile, but that is their trained nature and know that when they find out the truth, they will welcome you for we do not judge because of the past.'_

_All boys were very touched by his words and had no doubts in joining the X-Men because they knew he was a caring person, like the rest of his X-Men and that his dream was one worth fighting for. By giving those boys his few words of encouragement, he had done far more than Magneto had ever done in regards to their wellbeing. _

_The professor had decided to go into Cerebro to guide them through the mission, so that he would know all the developments of their progress. He had gone in under the guise of trying to find a particularly troubled mutant with powers that made it hard to find him. All the students had been instructed to leave the professor alone for the evening, so that he could concentrate and that any problems that should arise would be dealt with by the remaining adults in the mansion, namely Ororo and Hank. Logan would not be very helpful as he was Logan and Warren and Betsy had only recently arrived and were too new to know the routines and thus would be taken advantage of._

_Remy coasted their plane in the darkness of the night that hid them from view and landed a few seconds after the decent in a small clearing of a forest that was near a highway that would eventually lead them to the base, after a drive. This was the only spot they could land, even in their stealth plane that would not be detected by the HQ. _

_The three boys exited the plane and opened the back hatch to the plane which stored a SUV preloaded with equipment like the biohazard suits and other things needed for the mission. They all quickly put on the special jumpsuits, helmets and breathing apparatus Hank had made especially for the mission, not Forge, as Forge would be too involved and know something was going on if he had been asked to design them. The biohazard gear had all been designed to be very easy to use and had been secretly handed off to them via Wolverine. They had met up at an abandoned camping site and Logan had taught them how to use the equipment properly._

_They stripped off their warm winter jackets and shuddered as the cold January air of Colorado bit at their skin. Tossing the jackets in the black SUV, they continued to dress even faster into their suits which went over their regular uniforms. Beast had done a good job of insulating the jackets and they were warm as soon as they finished dressing. _

_The suits were black and came with gloves and boot coverings that would protect their clothes from coming in contact with the virus accidentally. They were long and also covered their exposed necks. The gloves and boots came up mid arm and mid calf respectively and the seams were sealed with a special liquid polymer to make sure that no virus would infect them. The materials that the jumpsuits were made out of made it so that is was virtually impossible to cut or rip and the polymer would only dissolve with a special solvent. The helmet was attached to a breathing apparatus that was strapped to their backs and those too were indestructible. The helmet had glass that allowed for unobstructed peripheral vision, but was shaded so that no one knew who the person inside looked like. _

_Pyro's backpack was specially made to incorporate his flamethrowers and Hank had taken the liberty to make the tubing that led to his arms indestructible as well as the breathing tubes in all the suits. Gambit's gloves were made so that they would be able to transfer his charging abilities through them into anything he touched, so that he didn't have to worry about losing his abilities. Colossus' jumpsuit made it so that it would expand and contract when he metaled up or down as he enlarged and got heavier when he metaled up. _

_It was decided that John be driver, as Piotr was slightly too large to drive comfortably in the SUV and Remy needed to rest after flying their flight. Before they boarded their ride, they injected each other with the Diomoxyline that would ensure their safety, should the virus enter their bodies. They all entered the car and John started its engine. As it hummed to life, Piotr who sat shotgun (why's it called shotgun?) gave John directions to the base from a GPS system in the car, from the area they were currently in. All boys knew the general location, but for the mission, it wasn't good enough to be general. _

_The woods were dark and the only light visible were from the headlights of the car. Imposing trees draped their branches over the sky, letting a few patches of sky and stars be seen. The snow caused a strange sloshing noise as they drove through it and about fifteen minutes after starting the car, they hit the highway. It was slick with the snow that was coming down heavily after the clouds had started to roll in and cover the stars above them. _

_They drove in anticipated silence. All were anxious to have the mission end swiftly and without anything going wrong, because if anything went wrong at all, the whole mutant race was to be at risk. Once every few minutes, Xavier would check in with their progress and give them some words of encouragement and being telepathically linked, they could sense the apprehension in his thoughts. Remy, being empathetic, could sense his worry and sadness as he 'talked' to them, which was more encouraging to him than Magneto's anger and menace that would always emanate from him, whenever Remy felt him, whether it was talking about a mission or just reading something. He always felt angry and Remy pitied him for it; the man simply did not let himself feel happiness and had sacrificed everything for a pipedream, even his children. He didn't even acknowledge them and it didn't surprise him that they were the way they were. _

_After about forty-five minutes of driving at illegal speeds on the highway, they reached a fork in the intersection where John took a right. After about five minutes traveling down the dark and slick highway, he turned off the road, where there was a dirt path that looked like the driveway to a farmhouse, but the three current Acolyte boys knew better. About five miles down the road, it became paved again and was much better maintained than the ones survived for the public by the government they had just turned off of. _

_Once they hit the paved area, they once again turned off into the woods to throw off any suspicion of their car, since many hunters would often come into the area to go hunting, so it was not suspicious when they turned off when hitting the paved road, since it was well known as a marker for the 'best deer hunting for miles around', most people thought the road led to a secret forest mansion for some rich family from New York and many hunters came at night for the supposedly 'increased deer activity.' (Totally making this stuff up, can ya tell?)_

_Normally, those who worked for the base would continue driving up the road, where they would eventually hit a gate complete with keypad, trigger happy guards with big guns, high voltage and a command post which buzzed the vehicles in. This would be way too conspicuous for the boys, even though Magneto's original plan had been to storm into the post, take out the guards and then enter the facility, but since everyone already knew about that plan and wanted to kill them, they had come up with a new plan with help from Professor X, Wolverine, Beast and Storm. They would park about two miles from the base in the woods where the car would still be undetectable and go on foot to an area on the vast concrete fence that surrounded the fortress of a base. As they were driving, John sent a small flame behind the car to melt the snow, which had become compacted into tracks and the snow around it, so that their tracks became invisible. _

_After about fifteen minutes of driving through the uneven terrain of the woods, John stopped at a spot with several bushes and a small circle of poplar and pine trees that would hide their car from the view of the guards, should they come looking for the car. It was also surrounded by the ancient magnificence of spruce and Douglas fir trees. John then proceeded to park the car and Piotr and Remy started to unload their equipment as John took out some camouflage tarp to hide the car with. When they were finished loading, the closed all the doors and the trunk and Remy locked it as well. John spread the tarp over the car as Piotr took branches from some trees to drape over the covered car to give the appearance of more trees. To see better in the darkness, Piotr and John had turned on the night vision function in the helmets, which Remy didn't need due to his eye's ability to see perfectly well in the darkness, better than anything made by man too._

_When they were done hiding their car, they strapped their equipment to their backs and began the short trek to the base. The woods were dark and the trees thick; they would have lost their way, if it weren't for the GPS system they had. John took the liberty to use some small flames to melt the tracks they left until they reached the 100m area around the base, which was loaded with heat sensors. The boys were prepared however, as their suits cooled their bodies enough to be undetected by the equipment. _

_When they finally reached the fence after about 20 minutes of walking, Remy sent a small charge through it, to disrupt the circuit of the electricity temporarily for them to use a grappling gun, which shot a small grappling hook attached to rope, and attach a rope to the wall, so they could climb the 15 meters over it. They attached clips from the harness of their suits to the rope and started to climb it after each person was a desirable distance up the wall. John was up first and made it up to the lip of the wall where there was a sort of two meter high step and he peered over it to see guards and other security personnel wandering around the concrete ground of the base and survey the area for any break-ins. Currently, all were unaware of anything wrong, even though the charge of the electricity was diverted. Colossus joined him shortly afterwards, and Remy with his Thief training made it up the rope in no time at all. When they were all on the lip of the wall just below the 'step', Remy dislodged the grappling hook and reloaded the grappling gun with it. Pulling out several small silver balls, he threw them over the step and down to the ground where all the guards were. Then using some controls in his computer, he discreetly controlled the balls so that they rolled to the unawares of the guards to the gates about 100 meters to their right. _

_The balls then exploded and caused a great plume of smoke, taking out several guards and some of the gate. All the guards, now distracted, ran to the gates to apprehend the intruders. It was a part of their original plan Magneto had hatched, they were to use the balls as a distraction to lead the guards away from their posts, while they snuck in through the sewers from the command post at the gate. With all the guards away from their posts, they could go in their sewers about 100 meters and reach a pothole near the unguarded door in front of it. Even though they were in front of that door now and the explosion had alerted the scientists to their test subject's arrival, the door was not the entrance of choice now. Instead it was a 3rd story window. _

_The base was a sprawling building with 10 stories and a humongous web like underground brothel where the experimenting took place. It was layered like blocks in a 1, 3, 5 type formation, where a tower poked out in the middle for maximal security. The upper levels were offices, lodging for the staff and massive surveillance and security hubs. The entire outside was made of concrete and steel. Street lamps lit the walkways and guard posts. _

_Remy, using a special drill, drilled a small hole in the cement wall, until he reached some wiring and using his computer, hacked into their security system with ease to put the cameras into a temporary loop of footage._

_Remy shot the grappling hook again, since the men were preoccupied with their distraction. The three boys then clipped some clips to the rope that Remy had used a metal spoke to attach to the wall's step so that it was taught. They then clipped another clip that was attached to a short rope attached to their harness, by you guessed it, another clip. They then one by one, climbed the step and jumped of the wall 'Amazing Race using wires to travel across a mountain style', using their legs to brace themselves as they hit the wall of the base on the 3rd story of the layered base. _

_Since Remy was first to jump of and go to the other side, it was his job to use his thief skills to open the window and turn off all detection equipment. Using his finger he drew a charged circle on the pane of glass which loosened the molecules and made it start to break off from the other glass. He got some adhesive and pulled the window pane out and entering the room, he cut the security systems panel beside the window, deactivating the warning system in the room. He waved outside the window and in a moment's time John and Piotr were beside him in the room. John unhooked the rope and with a press of a button, disengaged the stake holding the rope on the other side and quickly pulled the rope into the room. When that was done, Remy put the window pane back on and all the guards resumed positions after a crew had been sent to further investigate the Acolytes' decoy._

_The reason why they were in this room particularly was because it was the office of one William Stryker. Inside his computer were all the files and records they needed to prevent the spread of the virus and when they were done gathering the information from the office, all they had to do was reach the inner belly of the base to get samples of the virus. The original plan had been to steal files from the main computer several floors below, which stored all information within the base, but Stryker knew about that plan and all the files they needed were routed to his personal computer as well, not to mention, it wasn't as highly guarded._

_Remy started downloading files from the computer into a disc while, Piotr and John searched through the filing cabinets and draws for anything useful. Looking around Stryker's desk, Remy noticed several files present on the desk. Curious, he began flipping through them._

"_Fuck," he swore when he read the files. _

"_Wot's goin' on, mate?" asked John wearily as he stuffed several files and objects of interest into his backpack. _

"_Stryker has a Plan B dat Magneto never found out about or was a part of," he hissed, "He was takin' a huge risk with what Magneto was plannin' an' if de 'test subjects' failed to be apprehended within the base, he plans on attacking known mutant harboring facilities."_

"_Vhat, do youss mean, comrade? Not ze X-Men?" rationalized Piotr. _

_At this point both boys had gathered around Remy and were skimming over the files over his shoulder. _

"_It sez they planned ta station men near New York today ta test da strongah strain o' da virus, if our tests were successful an' if we were captured. An' if we were not captured, they'd just test the weaker strain on the Institute, Brothahood, Morlocks, an' Acolyte base. An' aftah alla that, they plan ta unload a whole buncha tha stuff on tha public ta rid tha mutants. Damn, mates, outah da fryin' pan an intah da foyre," summarized St. John. _

"_Ve must warn ze X-Men," said Colossus._

'_Don't worry, Piotr, I am putting the school into an air tight look down as we speak,' thought the professor, via telepathy from Cerebro. He had remained in telepathic contact with the boys should anything happen. _

'_You'd best leave now,' he started, but was interrupted as all boys thought the same thing. _

_This was their only chance and they had to get those samples or the mutant race may not survive. _

_Charles Xavier gave a mental sigh, 'I see I cannot change your mind boys, but please be careful.'_

'_We will,' thought all boys._

'_Zhey zhould give up tying to gas ze mansion, now zat youss are in lock down,' thought Colossus grimly. _

'_Yes, since going into lockdown, Logan has seen some unknown presence near the school from our radar detection systems that has since left, which is even less reassuring as they are probably moving on to the Brotherhood,' thought Xavier sadly._

'_I know dat you pro'ly don' wan' de students leavin' now, but de air is safe in your grounds as long as all your lock down equipment is on as de gas is only effective fer a 100 meter range,' thought Gambit as he skimmed Stryker's files. _

'_Thank you, boys. Be safe and I hope to see you soon,' said Xavier as he left the mental conversation, so that the boys could concentrate and get the samples of the virus. _

"_Okay, to de lower levels now," said Remy as they finished packing up all they had taken from Stryker's office. They zipped up their backpacks as Remy hacked into the bases security to loop the camera feed in the hall out side the office. _

_When that was done, Piotr pulled out some more of the small silver balls from a pocket in his utility belt and opened the door a crack for them to roll out into the hall. He waited until he was sure that the balls had traveled the distance needed to reach the guards watching the hallway and pressed a button on a pad causing a thick, grew gas to emit from the balls and cause the guards to lose consciousness for about 12 hours. _

_Certain that they had waited long enough for the gas to be ineffective to them; the four boys crept silently down the cold metal hallway and reached an elevator that would take them to the lower levels. It was large and imposing and made of titanium and had a keypad for restricted access on the side. _

_Remy plugged his minicomputer into the elevator and with a tap of a few buttons, the elevator doors opened, allowing them access. The boys stepped inside after Remy unplugged his computer and pressed the button for the floor two up from the one they needed to thwart suspicion. The elevators were the only way to get to the underground testing facility and by going two floors above where they needed to be, they hoped they would thwart the base's efforts at capture. Remy was currently typing furiously to rewrite some programs so that the computers would not record this unsanctioned use of the elevator. _

_When they reached their floor, they knew it would be left unguarded, since it was a biohazard. It was where the base cleaned all the materials for testing and manufacturing the virus, anything from test tubes to lab coats. No one stepped on the room adjacent to the elevators because of the possible cross contamination of dangerous substances. Besides, who would want to steal dirty beakers? When there were guards, it was only during the day, when the facility was open and people were cleaning or disposing and they were only there to prevent people from entering who weren't supposed to. They were always guards who were green and didn't have their weapons training yet. It was more of a training job for new guards and Stryker had deemed it pointless to guard it at night, as anyone stupid to go inside would die from the contamination of dangerous substances._

_Happy to be in their modified biohazard suits, the three boys entered the door adjacent to the elevator and entered the biohazard disposal and cleaning site of the base. However there were about eight doors you had to enter before even entering the actual site to reduce contamination. Remy had disabled all the cameras and detection systems here temporarily when in the elevator to be safe. _

_Hacking into the system, Remy was able to disable the computerized lock on the doors and open it. Taking the lead Colossus pushed open a door and walked through were he continued the same routine another seven times, until all three were through the doors and into the actual cleaning and disposal facility. The area resembled a large lab with about 20 lab tables in the center with large metallic sinks at each end of the table. Hundreds of cleaning products were on the shelves beneath the tables. A row of metallic countertops with cupboards above and beneath it sinks and about 10 large machines that looked like dishwashers. Every now and then there would be a fume hood which stored many poisonous metals and liquids. Many labeled and sealed containers were on top of the lab tables with names like mercury, 500 mol/L hydrochloric acid and nitrous acid and were all contaminated or prepared to be packaged to be destroyed. In a corner, were hundreds of lab coats and other equipment in large sealed plastic garbage bags waiting to be incinerated in the humongous silver central incinerator in the middle of the room. _

_All the boys hopped up on a lab bench about 5 tables over from the central incinerator. Gambit, Colossus and Pyro all took equipment and tools out of their bags. Pyro removed a rope and flashlight, Colossus, a large power drill and Gambit, a small minicomputer and wires. _

_Colossus held up the large battery powered drill to the ceiling and began drilling the screws off of a panel in the ceiling that would lead the boys into the ventilation shaft that would take them all down to the storage facility where the various strains of the Legacy Virus was stored. The silver ceiling panel was very thick to protect the people in the building from air contamination caused from the hazardous materials in the room. The shaft was an independent ventilation shaft from all the rest in the building; it only went into rooms where any hazardous materials were, the lab storing the virus included, to filter out the contaminated air and would eventually go to an air filter which removed all the contaminants from the air. _

_Gambit began typing on his computer furiously to make sure all the detection systems in the vent were off. John began to attach themselves together with rope and clips, so that they wouldn't lose each other in the shaft and to be able to glide down on the rope, once they hit the vertical parts. Once the three meter square panel was off, a large continuous rectangular prism that was the ventilation shaft was revealed and Pyro by using his flames was able to melt a square portion off for them to climb through. When they were done doing this, the boys packed away all the equipment they did not need. _

_Colossus climbed through first in metaled up form, they had known the vents were able to support more weight than normal ones to make sure that no explosions or accidents would contaminate the air of the compound. When he was within the one and a half meter square crawl space, he turned around so that he could see Gambit and Pyro who were attached to him by the rope and clips. The boys on the lab bench handed him the cut out piece of the air shaft and the ceiling panel and Colossus put the piece of shaft beside him and held on tightly, using a miniscule portion of his super strength to hold it up. Then, Gambit jumped into the area of the shaft across the hole from Colossus and scooted over for Pyro to do the same. _

_When Pyro reached the shaft, Colossus righted the ceiling panel, so that it was directly over the hole in the ceiling they had entered from. Pyro then began to use his flames to melt the edge of the metal in Colossus' hands and the whole in the shaft. When he nodded, Colossus dropped the panel into place where it hung in place by the cooling melted metal. Pyro then finished the job as he proceeded to weld the edge together to reinforce the break. He also did the same thing with the part of the vent that Colossus had by his side. When he was done with welding the seam shut on the vent, Gambit dove over Pyro into the part of the shaft where Colossus had backed into and did an elegant summersault once he landed on the other side. Pyro proceeded to cross over to the part of the shaft where his friends were by carefully crawling over the newly melded metal of the shaft. _

_When they were all in the proper area, Gambit took out his computer and began to see if the way was clear and when it was, he put it away and told Colossus to go forward. The silver giant was in front to protect them from any shooting that may take place as his metal form was impenetrable. The boys then began to crawl their way through the twists and turns of the dark metal tunnel as quiet as possible. Remy navigated as his memorization skills was far better than that of St. John and Piotr due to his training as a thief. While Colossus kept in metal form and Gambit had his cards ready to charge in his hand, Pyro had a small flame following behind him, ready to burst into a torrent of fire, should someone attack from behind. _

_They crawled following the turns, inclines and forks in the metal airway, until they hit a drop in the shaft, which would lead to the floor where the virus was held. Pyro used a super strength magnet attached to the end of the rope, and turned it on, so that it stuck to the ceiling of the shaft tightly. Soon the boys were repelling down the rope and about two stories to the floor they needed to be on. As soon as all of the Acolytes were down on the shaft about a hundred feet from their destination, the magnet disengaged and the rope fell to the floor. _

_The boys began crawling the last hundred feet in the narrow crawlspace to their ultimate destination, and soon, all they had suffered these past years would be over. Gambit stopped Colossus when he reached the bottom of an incline in the tunnel._

"_We're right above de lab an' storage facility, hommes," whispered Gambit. _

_The other two boys nodded and John prepared to melt the metal of the vent and ceiling panel, like before. When he was done, Colossus held onto the metal and let it drop soundlessly to the ground below them, and then hopped out. Pyro and Gambit followed suit and they unclipped themselves from the rope. They began to fan out and move around the room that looked similar to the room they had left about 15 minutes ago except it didn't have the incinerator and as many dangerous contaminants and cleaning products and mechanisms. _

_They each brought sealed brief case looking objects from their backpacks and started to a large cylindrical yellow-lime refrigerator-type mechanism with a red biohazardous materials WHMIS symbol on it. It had a keypad style lock on it, but it was no match for the Gambit, his computer and his pro Thief skills. Within seconds, the Prince of Thieves had the storage case open to reveal hundreds of labeled vials of the virus in various stages. The three former Acolytes began to put as many vials as they could fit into the briefcases. They made sure they had got some from each strain. _

_When they were finished with the virus, the boys decided to look at the records and computers in the room. Remy turned on the computer to inspect it as John and Piotr looked for any files or objects of interest to add to their growing collection of data. Remy was suddenly surprised to find files that weren't present in Stryker's files on the computer and quickly downloaded the information to save for future reference. It contained a much more conclusive data and information on each of the strains and some strange records, dealings and monetary exchanges that weren't to be found on Stryker's personal computer. He decided he would look at the files later. _

_Pyro was skimming through some interesting files he had found in the filing cabinet, his backpack was on the floor and contained an already massive amount of files. He decided to stuff this one in too, since it could be useful. He continued looking through the filing cabinet and two raised labels caught his eye: Mutant Detection and Mutant Experimentations and Testing._

_He flipped through the first and was totally sickened with what people were doing to those who had the same gene as him, it was disturbing. He decided not to linger on that file and put the entire section in his heavy bag. He picked up a file on Mutant Detection and skimmed over it as well. _

"_Holy shit," cursed the pyromaniac as he gestured anxiously for the Thief and former farmer to come over. _

"_Vhat?" questioned the colossal Russian, confused. _

"_Look, mates, we're in deep shit. They've got thaese machines that sense tha X-Gene and thare's a whole record about 'ow thay plaon on usin' thaose things on us, when wah come ta test tham out," summarized the Aussie as he shoved this file and all the rest of the files in the section into his heavy backpack. _

"_I hate to tell youss zhis, but I haf just found ze records zhat state zhat Stryker hass moles and paid politicians in ze various governments around ze globe zhat are vorking to a Global Mutant No Tolerance Policy," stated the metal giant as he stuffed all the interesting files into his bag. All the boys were surprised to the amount of intel they had found in a place that was only supposed to be a lab, a lab where they intended to end the mutant race, but still. _

"_We should get goin' now," started Remy as he and the rest of the boys wrapped up what they were doing, so that they could finish their job before they were found. Remy shut down the computer and Piotr hid the scrap metal from the ceiling and vent behind a lab bench, while John went about checking that everything looked the way it did before it entered. All boys were now over the edge. Despite the Mutant Detection Devices being prototypes, they could still pick up mutants within a hundred meter radius, so all boys needed to hurry to complete their mission. _

_Thuck. Tap. Click. Clunk. Slosh. _

_At this noise, Remy went to the glass entrance of the lab and making sure that he went unseen, saw about 50 uniformed soldiers, and much better trained than the joke of the guards they had faced previously, slowly approach the lab with a whole bunch of what looked like radar guns that police officers used to catch speeding cars. He knew better though, they were the detection devices and they had found the boys in the lab and would be trying to capture them any minute now._

_Gambit motioned for them to stay down as he stalked back to where Colossus and Pyro had taken cover under a lab bench. _

"_They're coming and through the only exit we've got now," said the Cajun charmer as a green gas and what sounded like automatic weapons start to load sounded above them in the now locked and secure security system. _

"_Ve'll haf to fight our vay through," stated Colossus grimly, "to reach our objective."_

_Gambit and Pyro nodded gravely as the flame loving lunatic shot up some fire from his flamethrower and prepared to attack just as Gambit drew his cards and extended his staff which he grabbed from his belt. _

_The boys snuck to the front of the lab, by the glass security locked doors by keeping under lab benches. When they were close enough, they could see the soldiers assembling near the glass door and preparing to open it. And after more than two years of working together, they knew this age old fight well: when the soldiers entered with their big guns, black uniforms and fancy equipment, they charge them, take them by surprise and take them down as quickly as possible, which involved using a barrage of metal fists, a torrent of charged cards and an inferno of fire used to create as much damage, destruction and harm as possible to distract and keep the soldiers off their tale for their final objective. _

_The door beeped and a red light turned green as the door opened with a mechanical hiss. The soldiers wore green night vision goggles and gas masks to prevent the sleeping gas from affecting them. They entered the room slowly and started to pan out, searching the seemingly abandoned lab. Most of the men thought the mutants were already down due to the gas as they hadn't moved from a position, and didn't think they had gotten any of the info they needed, for the objective that the boys originally had intended for them was to steal the files from a central control room. Most of the soldiers did not know that this lab stored the virus, for most had thought it was stored at the central storage unit in the basement. The soldiers spread out, looking for their quarry. _

_When all the soldiers were spread out and in the room, the boys made their move. It started with Gambit running swiftly and silently down a row of lab benches and charging each table as he went. He let the charge go, when he was at the end of the room and about 10 lab benches exploded, injuring about 20 of the surprised soldiers. As soon as they recovered from the explosion, the remaining soldiers pointed their guns and tasers at the young thief, only to be burned and thrown back by the engulfing flames St. John sent at them, while Gambit began to begin his assault of charged cards at the losing soldiers, Colossus, in his metal form and flame retardant jumpsuit walked through the flames and punched the soldiers not already down, making sure to destroy as much of the lab as possible. All the boys were. _

_They knew that now they were fighting the soldiers, someone might come back to try to save their gruesome research and the boys just couldn't allow that so as they started to finish off the soldiers, Gambit charged the walls, Colossus through heavy objects at all areas of the lab and Pyro torched the place to one big scorch mark. They went to the end of the room as the charge exploded and the flames found more fuel to eat up the lab whole. Colossus pushed in some flammable lab equipment into the flames for good measure, the chemicals present increasing the fire even more. Satisfied, they moved on._

_When they were done with the soldiers in the lab and they were all down for the count, the three boys sprinted to the blown open exit and took a left down the hall, only to be stopped by another squadron of reinforcement soldiers rounding the halls. They quickly skidded to a stop as Colossus stepped in front of Gambit and Pyro to protect them from the bullets the soldiers were now spraying at them. All of the ammunition bounced off the Russian easily, confusing the soldiers, as Pyro sent another wave of flames towards the men to cut a path through the soldiers blocking the hall, but it was clearing little room, as the clothes were flame retardant for the most part, so Pyro took to lighting anything that was flammable to set the hall on fire. _

_His eye fell on a jars of acid, and some type of alcohol, he picked the acid up and told Colossus to throw it at the soldiers, which he complied, the acid smashed on the wall and a stream of it hit the clothes of the soldiers, searing the fabric and burning their skin, unfortunately for them, they were not outfitted by Dr. Henry McCoy, who had made sure to make the suits unreactive with acid. Using the alcohol, he threw it into the crowd of gathering soldiers and lit it on fire, where it burned a path they would have to fight through to get out of. _

_Colossus did some grunt work as he pummeled the soldiers with his super strength and pushed back the ranks by striking as many people down as he possibly could. Any bullets ricocheted off his metallic body. He cut a bloody, injured path with his body. Pyro caused cascades of flames in various forms to burn the soldiers and pull them back to retreat. He would also bring in a few kicks and punches here and there to take care of those who dared near him, behind his curtain of flame. Dragons, lions, phoenixes, tigers and wild horses charged down the lengthy hallway burning a scorching path. Gambit charged several brace of playing cards and sent them barraging at the oncoming soldiers from the metal laced halls. Explosions rocked the compound as hundreds of cards met their targets. However, he wasn't only using his cards to fight off the opposition. The man was a fury of kicks and punches that disabled the men severely. His Bo-staff was twirled and twisted in one hand causing a world of pain to all that neared him. _

_The boys were all excellent fighters and their last objective was nearing, the boys could easily attack using their powers, but that was not what frustrated, angered and even surprised their would-be captors, it was their skill and fighting style. They fought as a team, one mind and each move was used to gain leverage and some ground. Each punch and kick was calculated to do the maximal damage, with the least amount of effort. Their powers were used to overpower and overwhelm the resistance of the defense force. And they were succeeding amicably, even though fiercely outnumbered. _

_Stryker was livid, how the hell could three seemingly boys, mutant boys, but still boys, defeat his men so easily. Their only advantage was in the sheer numbers of soldiers he had at his disposal. He simply could not and would not allow for the boys to get that information. And they were valuable test subjects which were just hand delivered to them wrapped like a gift. And here they were fighting their way through the mass of men, and with seemingly endless energy. _

"_We almos' thare, yet, mates?" panted out an exhausted Pyro. They had been at this for at least a strenuous half hour. He was in no way out of shape, but they had to be nearing that objective soon or he'd die of exhaustion or something. He was tired, physically tired, but you wouldn't know it, not from the intensity of the flames or the brutality of his physical assaults. No, he wouldn't show his fatigue, he'd been trained to endure and endure he would. He had been doing it for more than two years and a couple more hours wouldn't hurt. The pyromaniac had to give some of the soldiers credit though, in the morning, he'd be stiff and sore, not to mention sporting many choice bruises. He could feel the red, shiny welts as he moved, but ignored the pain. His ankle was killing him, after some soldier tripped him strangely, oh well, he'd felt worse._

"_Almos'," shouted Gambit, lost in the exhilaration of the fight. His adrenaline high excited him and his body was peaked and fluid in motion. He was starting to tire, but had trained all his life and was used to such strenuous activity. He was definitely not without injury and was sure to be feeling some in the morning, but for now, he was simply pulsing. A man garbed in black tried to punch him, he ducked and countered, punching him back, making him land against the wall and skid down painfully. He felt kicked from behind, falling forward, but using the momentum to flip with one hand, the other holding his extended staff, which hooked his assailant under the chin making him fall back head first on the floor. He took out several men as he landed, by doing a kick powered by his flip. As he landed he sent a pack of cards exploding down the hall, making the soldiers drop uselessly. The thief felt some pain in his side and it was hindering his breathing slightly, but he had felt worse and lived to tell the tale, so it did not worry him, as he pushed the pain to the back of his mind and focused on landing his attacks. _

"_It's just a few more mezzers down ze hall, no, comrade?" verified Colossus. He was starting to feel drained. The metallic giant was tiring, but he was definitely not showing it, his punches were anything but soft and his kicks sent the men flying to the walls of the compound. The strenuous activity had caused the gargantuan Russian to lose hold of his metallic form a few times, and get a fair deal of bruises that would definitely smart in the morning. But for now he was a machine, a wreaking force immobilizing all he had to take out the enemy. He had caused rubble to fall on his opponents and knocked several into one another to take them out. All the guns had long since melted from the intense heat of Pyro's fires, so he did not have to block anymore bullets. He was still cool, though, an effect of the Diomoxyline and the cooling system in the suits. Even through his non-metallic periods, the soldiers were just as bloodied by him, he was just that damned good of a fighter, and if not for their sheer numbers, the soldiers would most definitely be extinct by now. _

"_A few more meters, hommes" confirmed Gambit as he landed a spin kick, followed by a left hook, then a flip to use his momentum to take out about 5 opponents. The man fired some charges at his opponents in rapid succession. He suddenly spotted their objective, and seeing this, signaled his partners to break open a path for him. Colossus, the muscle of the group shoved and threw several men to the sides unconscious, and Pyro took care of the rest by shooting out a torrent of flame from his flamethrower and parting the man like Moses, but without the water, and he had flames._

_The Master Thief then took a running start and using his Bo-staff, vaulted elegantly over the heads of his enemies to a huge reinforced steel door with a security pad to the side. The massive farmer and lunatic pyromaniac sprinted to him and became like his body guards, throwing any man who neared away from their quarry with their powers like flames and metallic super strength punches or their superior fighting skills as the Cajun thief took to the keypad and hacked in using his computer. _

_As soon as it was open, he ushered Colossus in and put his hand on the wall adjacent to the room as Pyro sent a ring of intense blaze to protect them. When he deemed the charge sufficient, he hurried in followed by Pyro who let his flames increase as he entered the room, and engulf the men as the door slid close with a hiss. Colossus pressed a button on the wall, securing the room with a ring of rubble as well as an impenetrable lock. Gambit let the charge go and an earsplitting explosion was left to rock the compound. _

_The boys immediately surveyed the surroundings of their objective, Stryker's self destruct main. A giant computer took up most of the space in the small, dimly lit room. And before, getting to their final job, the boys took the opportunity to liberate anything of use to them later, like left over files and diagrams of various bases for future reference. _

_Pyro and Colossus took to downloading any necessary files off the supercomputer, that monitored the self destruct charge in the building, while Gambit hacked into its mainframe and started the self-destruct sequence. What better way to fake your death than to go up in smoky remains? A computerized program immediately start to activate at Gambit's nimble fingers and a self-destruct warning was issued throughout the base as air sirens, flashing lights and a computerized voice began counting down the twenty minute, non stoppable self-destruct sequence. Gambit made sure that no one, not even Stryker would be able to deactivate the sequence as his partners and fellow Acolytes finished downloading information, putting away their belongings. _

_Overhead they could hear the pounding footsteps of evacuation taking hold of the compound. There were only about 18 minutes left and they needed to seriously book it unless they really wanted to push up daisies. Colossus grabbed a section of the floor and pulled, easily taking up about half the floor from its original place before a long metallic pipe, traveling under the revealed dirt was uncovered. The concrete foundations of the compound were also visible to the Acolytes. Not worrying about stealth anymore, the Russian strongman grabbed part of the large pipe and pulled, lifting a good sized chunk from it, big enough for the three of them to hop in and make their underground escape like bunnies on crack, just as good rabbits do when attacked by predators. _

_Jumping into the sloshing brown fluid of the sewers the boys began to sprint down the 5 meter wide tunnel to the exit. They only had about 12 minutes left and the charge would take out much of the base and much of the surrounding area. They sprinted like the very devils of hell were on their heels, running for what seemed like hours, but were merely minutes to make their escape. All the boys were now panting heavily from the extreme physical exertion and ready to just flop down, but they would be out, just a little further until they were free of the blast zone. They didn't stop until they felt tremors rock the earth and shoot them forward due to the force of the compound's destruction. The base was now destroyed and the boys were now more than knee deep in shit and God knows what else. _

_Taking a slight breather, the boys just lay there in the murky water and breathed, glad to make it out alive after their latest and maybe most dangerous escapade to date. Not needing to feign intense energy spurts anymore, the boys began to stumble through the murky water and dark tunneling to find the exit and their vehicle. All boys were simply exhausted and looking forward to some nice rest, despite the fact that they were probably heading into another fight in the near future. _

_After a few more minutes of straggling through the dark with their throbbing and painfully stretched injuries, the boys spotted the storm drain that was their exit as the tranquil silver light of the pale moon penetrated the bars in the large storm drain. Remy hobbled over slightly and charged the bars, moving back and letting the explosion make an exit for the exhausted Acolytes. The boys, now cold and wet, started to trek the three miles to their car. It just sucked that this exit was further away from the car than their entrance. Oh, well, they sucked it up and walked aimlessly in the direction of their car, but not before hearing the faint hum and seeing the yellow glow of a helicopter. _

"_Oh, shit," muttered an annoyed Colossus as the boys ducked down and began to sprint under the branches of the sprawling trees to avoid being seen. They prayed against hope that the search party did not find their car. They kept a mantra of 'it's only one more mile, one more mile,' to make it to the vehicle alive. God, they were really starting to hate this night. _

_The sprinted quickly and silently, like predators pursuing their prey. Finally, after several minutes of tense running, they made it to the circle of trees that hid their car, only to hear the hum and see the lights of search vehicles looking for the mutants that destroyed their base, causing the boys to hastily throw back the tarp and everything that hid the car from view, they messily stuffed and stowed the tarp away, while throwing their packs into the roomy vehicle. _

_Remy took the driver's seat, John shotgun and Piotr had the back to himself. Remy started the vehicle as quick as humanly possible and they were off, after only a minute of when they first knew they were being pursued by car. Remy left the headlights of the vehicle off as he could see just as well in the dark and any light would just alert the men to their position. They tore into the darkness of the woods, John shouting directions every now and then. It was a bumpy ride and this time, the boys didn't go onto the dirt road or the paved one as it would be swarming with angry workers. They drove all backcountry in the all wheel drive of Magneto's souped up SUV. _

_After about 15 minutes of tense driving on the snowy bumpy ground of the forest, they spotted the highway. Remy accelerated the vehicle and put the pedal to the metal. They drove at a crazy speed until they noticed the vehicles following some distance back._

"_Shake tham oyff us, mate," said John nervously as Remy began to weave the car as they followed tightly._

"_Can'" he replied as the cars gained on them, "Distract them fo' m'."_

_Pyro obliged and did the job of his namesake by opening the window and sending a burst of hot flame into the road so huge it took up almost all the lanes of the three-lane highway. Gambit tossed a few cards out of his window as well generating large potholes that were hard to drive across and would trap the cars that tried. He then used a card to blow the guard rail separating the highway traveling north and traveling south. He made a turn through the hole and began to travel in the opposite direction. He slowed the car down to avoid suspicion as Pyro used a wall of flames to shield them from the view of their pursuers._

"_We're goin t' de neares' town an' switchin' cars," stated Remy as he told them his plan of action, when they were a safe distance from the pursuers. To make things more difficult for them Remy also sent some cards behind the cars to trap them in potholes so that not only were they trapped in both directions by potholes, they had to stay there until the flames dissipated. _

_When they reached an Exit marked Baca County, Gambit took it and drove at excess speeds to the core of the downtown area of the town. The street lamps and lights flashed by as the boys started to undress from their jumpsuits, to look like normal partyers in the small city. They awkwardly helped each other pull off the jumpsuits and as Pyro put it, "No one 'ears 'bou' this, evah."_

_As soon as they were dressed only in their sweat soaked uniforms, Colossus who was the only one without a job at the moment, as Gambit was driving like a bat out of hell and Pro was navigating him to the nearest parking garage, stuffed the jumpsuits into the specialized disposal device for them that the Beast doctor had made for them. They all knew that the virus could not harm them unless injected and they had been protected from that by the suits and the Diomoxyline. Also any new virus they may have tried to test on them were only effective if it was in the system within 15 minutes after release. The stronger strains were still being researched on as the boys found out from their intel gathering. _

_At last, Gambit drove them to a parking garage. He stopped right outside the black and yellow stripped metal gate and took out his computer to disable all the cameras in the area for the time being, when finished, he pressed the button which lifted the gate and drove into the garage. He drove for about three levels until at last they spotted a car. It was a beautiful shiny silver 2005 Lexus RX 330, the perfect hybrid of SUV and sedan car. It was also the perfect escape car; quiet engine, responsive and super fast. The car was aerodynamic and smooth, it had the look of a station wagon, but more luxurious and SUV styled. (It's my family's vehicle, what can I say, I love it, our's is 2004, Now if only I could get my mom to let me drive it…) _

_He parked adjacent to the vehicle and exited Magneto's SUV quickly, then ran to the car and took out his thief tools, shivering slightly in the -25 degrees Celsius temperature. He picked to so-called thief-safe lock in seconds, as John and Piotr unloaded their belongings from the SUV as Remy opened the rest of the doors and the trunk for them to load their materials in. John threw Remy his trench coat as the three of them relished the warmness of putting on their jackets, hats and mitts. Remy took spare plates from some equipment in the SUV and changed the RX 330's plates._

_When everything they had in Magneto's SUV was loaded into the Lexus, the three boys entered the vehicle in the same spots as before, as Remy hot wired the engine to life. Before pulling away from their former employer's car, they took the liberty to destroy the evidence by setting it to fire, charging it and breaking it apart. They saw it as revenge on Magneto to ruin his baby on a 'spin'. Remy pealed out of the garage just as they saw some black cars coming the other way. The boys laughed a little as the cars passed. They knew that the men had no idea what they looked like due to their jumpsuits and helmets covering any distinguishable feature and the black tinted windows of Magneto's destroyed and totaled vehicle. _

_The three former Acolytes then sped down the highway to where their plane was waiting for them to fly to New York. When they finally reached the stretch of highway they knew was near to their plane, they turned onto the snow covered grass again and went into the woods and after 15 minutes of driving found their little jet, still untouched with a thin layer of snow dusting its silver surface, after all, they had left it for several hours. _

_Pulling up to the plane, Remy opened to back hatch and drove the plane onto the back storage area of the jet. Piotr shut the hatch once the car was loaded in safely. The three boys then began to use to test that Dr. McCoy had gave to them to see if they had any trace of the virus present in their body. The machine analyzed the DNA in 5 minutes and looked for anything that was disrupting the X-Gene, finding none, the boys knew that they were safe. _

_Feeling relieved that the mission was finally over; Colossus took his turn to drive. He opened the door to the cockpit of the small plane from the storage area and stepped through turning on the lights and giving power to the engine as John and Remy removed their needed personal items from the car. They all changed into fresh uniforms stored in the plane before finishing the safety checks and starting the engines. Soon, with Piotr as the pilot, the plane gently took off into the dark January night on the long flight to Westchester, New York. _

'_Congratulations, my boys, on a job very well done,' congratulated an elated Professor Xavier. He knew the situation they were about to face was grave, but the boys that were put into a such gravely dangerous mission were still alive and on their way to New York. The sun was just rising; turning the sky a glowing pink in the distance and hope seemed eminent for the moment. _

'_Thank you, professor,' thought the boys who were more than happy to be congratulated by Charles Xavier, the simple praise and warm words was more than Magneto ever said or did in all their time working for him and they knew that it would be a joy and worthwhile to work for such a great man towards an even greater dream._

_They had coasted above Springfield and had left the state, when Remy said, "Let's track dere radio frequency, hein?"_

"_Woy, mate, ya thinka somethin'?" said St. John out load, if Remy was thinking like that after they just escaped that hell hole, he must be expecting something big and bad to occur._

"_Yes, comrade, is somethink vrong?" elaborated Piotr, as he stared straight ahead into the beginnings of a beautiful sunrise. _

"_Jus' wanna be sure dat nothin' goes wrong. Dose hommes back dere were a pain in de butt an' dey're obviously none t' pleased dat we liberated de t'ings we did. Dey came after us when dey were severely damaged an' definitely have somethin' t' lose. Dey tried t' get us an' follow us, I jus' wouldn't be surprised if dey're still after us, I jus' don' like surprises like dat," explained Remy tersely. _

" _Royght, mate," agreed John as he began tweaking with some buttons in the plane to eavesdrop on the Base's frequency to see if there was anything for them to worry about, other than going back to New York with the Legacy Virus everywhere. When he was done voices from the men working for Stryker and his base were heard over the speakers of the plane as the early morning light shone through the windows of the plane. _

"…_prepare to monitor the Institute. I do not want any more slip ups. This is unacceptable, damn it, we had them in our hands and they took down everything we have worked for. We are just so lucky that we had the foresight to have more than one base. However, you should realize that our headquarters are demolished and everything from all the bases stored in those computers and our main research is gone! Our only saving grace is that we have secured the highest strain at the other bases," whined a deep, irritated, angry and totally pissed of voice._

"_Yes, sir, we are monitoring the mansion as we speak. We had to back off though, as they are aware of our presence. Do you know who it was that took the virus and information from our headquarters," responded another voice. _

"_We have reason to believe that they are indeed Magneto's Acolytes were the ones who broke into our compound and took the virus due to the powers that they used in their escape. Our men found a dark SUV in the woods near the base that was later found and destroyed in parking garage in Baca. For all we know they are still out there and any clues from the vehicle we may have been able to salvage were destroyed in a blaze," said the first voice in Colorado._

"_Then the Acolytes must have found out about the anonymous caller, then. I have the video footage and it seems that they knew exactly where everything was. They were good, too good. Their powers were stronger than anything that I have ever seen in mutants before and if this is the caliber of the X-Men, we have problems. We must work faster," said the voice in New York._

"_Yes, we must. Proceed with testing the strain we failed to test at the headquarters on the Brotherhood, remaining Acolytes and Morlocks in the New York area and report all developments to me. We are now relocating to the New Jersey base to be our new headquarters as it is the only one large enough to support our research. Also, preceed to move in on the X-Men, break their defenses and capture them for the lab. Do not try to test the virus on them yet as they will prove to be as troublesome as the Acolytes that destroyed the base."_

"_Alright, I will be sure to report all developments. If we fail to inject the virus, we will capture them and bring them to New Jersey for further testing where the mutants from the other missions and labs are too, so we can centralize our efforts once more. I will see you in New Jersey. Shall we continue to track and look for the Acolytes should they show up?"_

"_Yes, we must know exactly what they found at the base. For all we know they may know everything about the virus and the other mutants must not find out about it. Our Project Blood Dawn must go on schedule. You have the instructions, now. I am signing out and will see you in New York."_

_The frequency went into a static buzz as the men signed off from their conversation._

"_Ya weren't kiddin' whan ya saiyd thay ware a pain in tha butt," deadpanned John. _

"_Do youss think zhey can track zhis plane?" questioned Piotr. _

"_No, Magneto's equipment was pretty impressive and it's definitely de most stealthy plane we have. Besides when I checked de plane prior t' de mission, everything was fine an' none o' de parts were tampered wit'. Plus I added some specialized stealt' equipment from de Guild int' it, t' make it untraceable, las' nigh'," responded Remy, "however, we're gonna need t' prepare fer battle as soon as we land an' continue to remain undetected. Let's take de non-direct route t' through off any suspicion, hein?"_

"_Of course, comrade," answered Colossus as he began to fly the plane to various destinations in Middle America and coasting aimlessly to ward off any suspicion.

* * *

_

_The boys had taken time to rest, sleep, eat and fix any injuries during the extended plane ride to New York. They had each gotten as much rest as possible and kept on monitoring the radio frequency after alerting the X-Men to their would-be captors. Of course, when hearing this, the professor heart was heavy. He would, under normal circumstance, deploy his X-Men to defend the others affected by this development, however, they were facing the same one, and he would simply not put his students at risk like that. _

_The security at the X-Mansion was tight and no one was allowed to go outside. Reinforced metal sheets rolled behind all the doors and windows to protect them from an invasion. A plasma shield surrounded the estate and property, ready to liquefy anything suspicious and radars all over tracked the movements of Stryker's men just outside the property. _

_All the inhabitants of Mutant Manor who didn't know what was going on and were very confused and the professor refused to tell them what it was, until all the information the now former Acolytes had taken could be processed and the boys themselves safe. So those who were left in the dark were left to whisper and speculate on what exactly was going on. The wide consensus was that the professor had finally lost it after all those years of teaching mutants without the use of his legs.

* * *

_

_When the boys finally made it to Westchester, New York in was around four or five in the evening and the winter sun was just starting to set. Prior to landing, Remy and John had loaded everything they needed into the stolen RX 330 and put new plates on it just in case. Piotr landed the jet smoothly about 30 km from the mansion in a large clearing in a forest near by that Stryker's men weren't monitoring. _

_After the landing, and unloading, a refreshed and bandaged John took the wheel and began to drive them through the rough terrain of the northern forest. He hid their path by melting the snow and soon they reached the highway that would take them to the mansion. They used their radar systems to find out where all the militant vehicles were and managed to avoid all of them during their short drive. _

_As the sun cast orange light on the snow covered ground, the boys hid the car in a deep snow drift near the edge of the property and stuck some stickers on it that said 'Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters' and a metal 'X' emblem on the front and back of the car, giving the appearance of a car stuck in a snow drift and abandoned for the night. _

_They were about to seek an unofficial entrance into the mansion, and as they were sure that they were safe and would not bring the virus and hurt the ranks of the X-Men with it. _

_The three boys then snuck along the edge of the Xavier Institute until they reached the wrought iron gates of the front entrance, their final stop on an exhausting mission and the hardest part had yet to come, to explain themselves to the so-called enemy the circumstances of their 'uninvited' visit. Most of the X-Men didn't know what was going on and it was going to get rough before it got better.

* * *

_

"And dat's what happened," finished Remy as he and the other two former Acolytes told the X-Men a detailed account of their mission as Beast, Storm and Wolverine processed all the data they had collected.

The mood in the War Room was grim as all the X-Men found out that the Brotherhood had indeed been taken by Stryker to his New Jersey base. Many of the X-Men had gone to school with the B-Hood, and as many differences they had with the boys, they could not begin to fathom all the terrible things that were being done to the boys on the basis of their mutancy. Evan was shocked to learn that all those on the Morlocks he had grown so fond of were being taken by some scientist. They were facing an oncoming war where they were to be killed based on their genetic structure. Genocide, if there were ever a use for the word, it was now.

"I am sorry, my students, for keeping you in the dark for so long, but it was necessary for your safety and for Remy's and while we can't help the Brotherhood and Morlocks in their plight, as of now, we can help them escape it, once we know for certain what we are dealing with. Also I cannot endanger any of you in such a manner, because if we are to attack now, we will more than likely fail and if we fail we will all be killed, if not worse and our race will not survive. We must plan and know our enemy before we are able to attack and win. I know you all feel powerless, but now that we have this information, we can use it to our advantage and do some good," said the professor to all of his pupils as the boys finished their story.

"Hank, Ororo, and Logan, if you wouldn't mind, could you please get started on deciphering the information?" requested the professor of his teachers. A collective nod was seen from the mentioned individuals and they began to sift through the information manually or by the large super computer at the head of the room.

"Now, I'm sure you will all be welcoming to the boys and I ask you to please hold no grudge to them as their reasons for joining Magneto were purely out of protection for themselves and others. I hope that all of you will prove to be kind and welcoming," he continued.

"I'm sure they'd be happy to answer any of your questions," he added as he saw the curious faces of his students.

Bobby, the gossip mongerer, and dirt digger that he is, eagerly asked, "So we know Gambit's background and reasoning for joining Buckethead, and trust me, I find it incredibly weird to know that you were always on our side, no offence,' he started and gestured to Remy at this, "but I'm curious to know what are Colossus and Pyro's reasons for joining?"

"Well mates, tha land down undah, just ain' the same as she used ta be," started John, "I guess ya cain say that maiy loyfe started out tha same as Remy's. Moy family ain' all tha pretty. Moy dad and mum died when I wos two an' I was sent ta live wit' moy aunt and uncle. Only problem was, they weren' exactly tha best a people. Moy aunt was depressed an she was always doped up on pills. Moy uncle was an alcoholic and was always beatin on me or moy aunt. So social services took moy away from them when oy was seven."

"Oy then jus' wen' from foster home ta foster home. An' Oy though that no one would evah adopt moy, as Oy was a little on tha wild side, howevah, then one day, I goyt adopted when Oy was eight, eventually ta this naice family in Sydney, tha Mackenzies. Tha's when tha bad stuff happened. Ya see, it was then when Oy was thirteen that moy powahs started ta manifest. Ioyt was summah holidays an' all a us kids in tha family were outta school."

"Tommy, Bill an' Charlotte, or Charlie as we called 'er, had just come from a boat ride in tha harbor an' had jus' gone home. Moy adopted mum and dad, Jen an' Mike wah jus' cookin' dinnah on tha stove, when all a sudden, my powers popped up, controllably. The flames on tha stove shot up and spread through tha kitchen loyke wild foyre, all a us were in tha kitchen at tha toyme, and couldn't do nothing."

"Within seconds we wah surrounded by tha flames an' it was so hot and oxygen deprived, we must've fainted, because tha next thing Oy remembah is wakin' up in tha hospital and bein' tol' tha' they had all been severely injured an' Jen an' Mike hadn't survived, neithah had Bill. Tommy an' Charlie wah still okay, but thay were in serious condition an Charlie didn't las' tha noyght. Tommy was brain dead the next morning due ta tha severe lack a oxygen. An' in those few hours, I lost all the family Oy had evah wanted."

"Oy was sent back ta Child Services an put intah fostah care again. I had no clue how ta control mah powahs an Oy had ta keep it a secret. Oyt was then that Oy guess Oy started fallin' in wit' tha wrong kinda people. Oy was used tha do bad stuff, loyke stealin' things. Oy knew it wos wrong, but Oy stayed wit' them because Oy didn't have anyone else ta belong with. Tha only good thang that came from tha' was learnin' ta love moy powahs and accept moyself for who Oy was."

"Oy stayed wit' them even though thay pressured me intah doin' a lotta things that Oy didn't want ta. And Oy did them, because they had convinced moy tha' Oy would only evah be accepted wit' them. Oy nevah thought that anyone would evah get ta know moy aftah what had happened wit' moy family an' they had sorta drawn me in, Oy suppose. Ioyt was wit' them that I eventually got moy love foy moy power and moy flame."

"We wah near tha harbor an thare was a swnaky party inside the All Seasons Premier Menzies. Ya know, tha kind wit' all tha rich folk who park thare cars wit' tha valet. Well, anyway, moy 'mates' an Oy'm usin' that term looselah, decided tah steal a car. Not just any car, a Lamborghini Murciélago. So we stole it from tha valet an' took her fo' a joyride."

"We hit tha pier by tha harbour, cruisin' by tha opera house, then we ran a couple lights, sped down a whole buncha streets an' headed foy tha highway. Unfortunately, tha police had been alerted of us, what wit' tha joyriding an tha valet missing tha car. So they tracked us down an' we gave chase. Ioyt wos then that moy 'mates' made me set flame ta some o' tha buildings in tha area ta distract tha authorities. Tha police car was right along side a' us an' heard moy arguin' wit' moy friends an said tha if they were forcin' moy ta do somethin' tha I didn't wanna do, then they really weren' moy friends in tha first place."

"I decided noyt tha do it, but Oy had already lost control a little an' so some o' tha trees wah already burnin', moy mate decided he'd had enough an sloved moy inta tha side bar o' tha car, the action made moy loose complete control o tha flame an it spread ta some o' tha buildings. Oy was horrified. Eventually, tha police finahlly coyght us. That one cop, Mary, knew tha Oy wos bein' bullied intah puttin' tha buildin's ta flame, so she put in a good word foy moy with tha judge an' wot not. So Oy only got sentenced toy juvie, being Oy was only 16 at tha toyme."

"Oy was put in a jail foy a few days, befo' Oy was sentenced ta juvie, where Oy only stayed foy about 3 months. I did community service an' all that afterwards. Oy was made ta give up all infoymation on moy mutation, an was put on a list of known mutant offenders. It royally sucked ta be in tha slammah. People reallah hated moy at tha jail an Oy got roughed up a lot. It wos bettah at Juvie, but noyght much. Thay made moy have sessions with a counsellor, luckily he was an unknown mutant, so he gave moy a lotta good advice, loyke ta avoid problems wit' tha law, because, next toyme Oy wouldn't be so lucky. They woul' easily be prejudice an' sentence moy ta many years in jail, just foy petty theft alone."

"Aftah juvie, Oy got bounced back inta Social Services, waitin' foy moy 18th birthday ta roll aroun' so Oy could get oyt. Eventually, Oy was adopted again by Mary Deacon, the police officah, and her husband Mark. Oy was so scared when thay did that, even though they knew wot happened toy moy first family, tha Mackenzies. Thay didn't blame moy and adopted moy, because they themselves knew wot it was loyke ta be a mutant."

"Mary had these low level camouflage powers, where she could make herself look invisible in tha dark and Mark, who wos a foyrefightah, ironically, coul' summon water molecules outta the air an' make them liquid, good foy foyrefightin'. They had three young kids who hadn't manifested powahs yet, and a teenaged boy an girl who were mutants loyke me who thay found on the job an' had no place ta go because o' their powahs or otherwise. They girl, Jamie, and the boy Corey, were a little youngah than me. Oy was wary at firs', but eventually, it wos loyke Oy had a family again, in them. They loved moy loyke tha Mackenzies did. Oy still miss both families aloyt."

"We lived on tha outskirts a Sydney on a sorta acreage near a huge national park that was real lovelay. Tha ocean wos nearby an we always used ta go surfin' an' wot not. Thay reallah turned moy life around and encouraged moy ta write moy books. But one day, woyle we wah out on tha ocean, tha entiah family out surfin', tha parks caught foyre an' a lotta it wos burned tha ground. When tha inspectahs and police goyt out, it wos determined that only a mutant coulda burnt it down. So thay charged moy. Mark and Mary fought hard ta get moy out, but no one would listen ta them, despite tha fact that we all had been nowhere near tha site o' tha foyre and that Mary wos a policewoman and Mark wos a foyrefightah. No one knew abou' their powahs, so thay were safe from mutant hating in Aussie, but it wos still real bad. My record as bein' a known mutant offender didn't help mattahs."

"About three months before Oy was ta be sentenced; when Oy wos seventeen, our lawyer won moy tha right tha live at home, instead a back tha jail. Oy was constantly bein' wotched an' the mutant hating is Australia increased ten fold when tha media had a field day wit' moy supposed crime. Luckily names were nevah published, so few knew it was me."

"Tha last few months with moy family were harsh, we felt loyke we wore being torn apart, because we wore unaccepted by everyone. Then Magneto showed up an' offahed me ta go to America with him ta continue ta go ta school an' work fo' him. Moy parents had no choice, but ta allow him ta employ moy, because it was tha only way ta get moy out of Aussie an be safe from all of tha mutant hating an the public uproar ovah moy case. Thay knew that Oy would be sentenced an Oy wouldn't go ta juvie this toyme eithah. Thay knew the court woul' put moy away fo' a' least 25 years."

"Thay knew wot thay wore doin' wos illegal; getting a fugitive outta tha country, but thay did it because, even jails weren't safe. There were horrible things being done ta mutants in them, so they couldn't let moy go there foy a crime that Oy didn't commit."

"Besides, Magneto promised ta keep moy safe an' ta train moy powahs, so that Oy would have more control. Even though they knew he wos a shady charactah, thay had no choice, but tha let moy accept his offah. Oy didn't reallah believe in tha whole mutant superiority thing, besides tha mutant hating towards moy and moy life, but Oy had really no choice. It sounded a lot bettah than jail. Besides, he told me that once Oy had graduated from high school, he could get me into a good university where Oy could study literature to become a writah. It sounded okay. So about a month later, Oy packed up an' left with Magneto an' his crew, where Oy met moy best buds Rem and Petey, who wah already thare an' forced ta work wit' Buckethead. If Rems didn't work, he'd sic the 'sassins on him and hurt his brotha and cousins, and if Petey didn't he'd do bad stuff ta his family and if Oy didn't he'd hand me ovah tat ha Australian authorities an hurt tha Deacons."

"We sorta founded a secret Screw Ovah Buckethead Club as soon as we met an found out none of us really wanted ta work foy tha crusade. We wah all undah tight contract. Aftah tha whole Apocalypse thing, he remerged and made us work for him again due to tha contracts. We had all split up an' Oy had gone back ta Aussie foy a bit ta visit tha Deacons foy a while in secret. Ioyt wos just before Oy had ta come back ta work for Magsy, that Oy found oyt that he wos tha one who had framed moy and set tha park ta foyre, but Oy couldn't do anythin' abou' it, an' it had all been an elaborate way ta recruit moy."

"Howevah, when we came back, Mags wos actin' stangely, more secretive, and had recruited some new blood that actually believed in wot he wos goin' on about. He began ta send us on some real dangerous missions, in which we pretty much always got injured an' had someone try ta kill us. He wouldn't use his newer recruits because tha missions wah so dangerous and tha fact that while thay had potential, none of tham were as powahful as us."

"Won me a Petey found ou' bout' how Rem's been workin' fer ya all along, an' about how Mags was tryin' ta kill us, we figured that now wos as good a time ta join. Not only woul' we be able ta get tha information on tha virus, but we'd be finally free o' Magneto. We reallah don' believe in wot he wans tha world ta be, because its noyt real pretty, besides, Oy've seen how moy parents work with ordinary people, an' noyt all of them are bigoted freaks, some just wan peace too. Workin' fer Magneto made me see how terrible it would be if the world were to work out in his favour," finished John and gestured to Piotr to begin his story.

"Vell, I vass born on my family's farm in near Lake Baikal in Siberia. I have an older brozher named Mikhail and a younger zister named Illyanna, or Anna, for zhort. My family are farmers and we own a fairly large farm in ze region. I vould haf to zay zhat I haf had a pretty normal childhood. I had loving parents and a brozher and zister. Nothing vreally out of ze ordinary. I learned to love art at an early age, but zhat vos about it."

"My powers manifested vhen I was fourteen. It vos autumn and my family and I vere vorking on ze farm, preparing for ze harvest in two veeks time. Several neighbours had come to help out. You zee, farming is hard vork and often our neighbours would come over to help us out during harvest as ve would for zhem, zhat way, we could harvest more effectively."

"Ze ploughs vere running and my zister vas helping my mozher vith next year's plans for what to grow, vhen suddenly, her hat blew into ze fields vhere I vos vorking. As she bent down to pick up ze hat, a plough, which had not seen her, due to ze height of ze vheat, came tumblink towards her. I vos horrified. I dropped my tools and ran to push her out of ze way, only to lose my footing and stumble as I picked her up."

"I could do nothing but stand there as moving would not have made a difference. As I stood there, my skin began to change and become hard and metallic. Anna was shocked as vos I. I stood there and ze plough or tractor hit us head on, except nozhink happened to us. I vos able to push the tractor back with my newfound strength and ve vere both unharmed. Ze only zhing that was damaged vos ze tractor by a little."

"My parents thanked God for zhis miracle zhat saved both zheir children, but were scared as to vhat vos happening to me. I could change back and forth between the two forms. Only vhen I vos metal, I vos taller and much stronger. Also, ze metal vos virtually invulnerable."

"At ze time, neizher my parents nor I knew zhat I vos a mutant. It vos very helpful for ze farm work. Ve didn't zhink zhat anythink vos wrong and neizher did my siblings. That is, until, one day, about a year later, ve heard about how ze government vos trying to purge ze country of ze mutants. Zere were demonstrations and many were murdered. Being in a rural community, nobody thought much of it, it vos seemingly a problem only for ze cities."

"My family vos vorried, though, and made sure zhat my mutant form vos never to be revealed. But zhen, a year later, vhen I vos sixteen, ze party zhat vos starting all ze anti-mutant propaganda expanded and started to go to the rural communities. Everthink changed, ze countryside vos in an uproar and ze mutant-hating vos so terrible zhat people began to kill mutants in cold blood. Ze hating vos terrible and any family zhat had mutants vere killed. A family near us vos hiding a mutant and zhey vere all punished and tortured. Ze mutant vos killed brutally. It vos terrible. Everyvhere youss vent zhere vere people trying to get rid of mutants."

"It vos zhat year, zhat we had a poor crop yield and my brozher, Mikhail and I vere forced to take some second jobs to take care of ze family as vell as my fazher and mozher. Illyanna vos still to young to vork for money. Ve vere barely making ends meet and it vos very hard. Mikhail vos going to ze local university an it vos even harder to vork on ze farm. My parents vorked very hard to have enough money to send us all to university and ve had to drain some of ze savings just to keep ze farm running. So I began to zell some of my art for ze money, when ve vent to ze city for the market to zell our crops."

"Ve vere barely getting by and ze mutant hating vos growing daily. Zhere vere zhese terrible public hangings and all known mutants trying to get out of ze country vere executed. I vos getting very dangerous for me to live. I lived a year in fear at school, never trying to do anyzhink vrong, to make sure people didn't think I vos a mutant. My parents vere very worried for my safety and didn't know vhat to do. So vhen Magneto showed up, it seemed like ze ideal solution, even zhough I had to move away."

"Mikhail didn't trust him at all and tried to tell me not to go, but even he knew zhat if I did not go, I would be killed or vorse. All of his attempts to make me stay vere half-hearted and it hurt to see him like zhat. He knew I didn't believe in his dreams and only wanted some peace for those like me. But he knew I vould haf better opportunities in America in education and jobs if I vent. Magneto said zhat he vould enrol me into a good high school and zend me to a good university to study Art or vhatever I decided on after I had graduated. Also, Magneto paid very vell and I could send a large portion back to zhem to ease ze vorkload. Anna spent every waking moment vith me before I departed. And my parents told me zhat zhey would miss me terribly."

"Vhen I departed to America, I met John and Remy and ve became good friends. Remy vent to Columbia University and ve joined him a year later upon graduating from a private high school in a town near Bayville to study Art and Literature among ozher zhings. And John and Remy haf already told you about our terrible vorking conditions vith Magneto. Ve lived in a small house in a town near Bayville near his base and he vorked us like dogs. After Apocalypse, he changed his plans and zhey became much more dangerous. Ve vanted to get out, but couldn't, ve vere all blackmailed into doing his increasingly dangerous vork, so vhen Remy finally revealed himself, it vos like a miracle. Ve could finally escape and do somethink good for a change. Even zhough Magneto gave us money, shelter and a good education, his methods of hid mutant crusade vos terrible and ve vere all relieved to finally have a way to get out."

"Remy, being in deep cover for ze past three years, vos elated to be finally telling us his secret and getting away from Magneto as ve all vere. So vhen he seemingly died, several months before, ve visited our families in zecret, but vhen he came back and made us vork for him again, his tasks vere much more demanding and dangerous, we could almost always expect to get killed in zome way. It's a relief zhat it's finally over, after two months of pretending to still be loyal," he finished.

When all boys had finally revealed their pasts, all the X-Men were much less weary of having them on the team, besides, they could always use new mutants and the boys had the added bonus of knowing exactly what Magneto was like, having worked for him, and could have valuable insights about him on future missions. But for now, all the X-Men were surprised, if not shocked by their current situation. The Brotherhood and Morlocks were more than likely being captured at this moment and they were powerless to help, because if they were captured as well, Stryker's plans would be complete and they'd all be eliminated. So for now, they had to wait and plan their next move and attack when Stryker least expected it to win.

"Now, students, I know you are all wanting to leave now, but unfortunately, there are still some of Stryker's personnel monitoring the mansion and until I know that it is safe, I do not want any of you in the upper levels, even in Lockdown, due to the virus in their possession. Logan will be updating the security system, now, and until it is complete and it is safe to go upstairs, will I allow any of you to go up there, as it is safest down here in the War Room," said the professor with authority as all the students nodded in agreement.

Many had not wanted to go upstairs anyway, due to the impending danger. All of them knew that of all the rooms in the school, the War Room was safest. It was like a Panic Room and had steel encasing it from attack. There was an escape pod here as well, hidden below the wooden table, that led to escape vehicles in a secret underground garage. They had practised exiting this way many times over the years at the Institute just in case and they had meeting places too.

"I'll help Logan wit' de updates," offered Remy as he made eye contact with the Wolverine. He would be very useful for this due to his skills as a thief and knew this.

"Thanks, Gumbo," replied Logan as Remy headed to the computer where Logan was located and had recently finished sorting through the information on the virus that the former Acolytes had bought back.

"I'll help you, too," offered Warren as he made his way over. He knew a lot about security and how to protect your assets, being a wealthy businessman and all. He also wanted to question Gambit on why he had broken into his house to steal Apocalypse's key if his mental shielding had been as strong as the professor claimed.

As he approached Remy cautiously, he inquired, "So Remy, I've always wanted to know why exactly you were controlled by Mastermind to break into my home, when it was clear that you had no interest in doing so."

"Well, at de time, I was bored t' hell, an' Magneto made it a requirement to stay at de base. It was insane in dere, what wit' John dere tryin' t' scorch Sabertooth and what not. I had t' get out. So when Mastermind went int' my head, I was like what de hell? Why not? It wasn't like he could find anything due to de blocks de professor put on m' memories on anything about de work I was doin' fer him. Well it sucked incredibly; I was in dis constant fog, like I was piss drunk. I could tell I was makin' incredibly stupid mistakes durin' de theft an' when I was lucid again it was like de 'Hangover from Hell," he responded.

Angel had a good laugh, and put out his hand saying, "So, no hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings," agreed Gambit as he shook his hand and got back to the task at hand.

As the three were updating the security, the other X-Men began to socialize and get to know the new recruits. No one, the former Acolytes or the X-Men had seen the Acolyte boys since the defeat of Apocalypse and many of the X-Men had changed their appearance since their last meeting. Kitty, Rogue and Kurt, the only three brave enough to approach the John and Piotr, after they had finished with their stories, welcomed both of them to the team warmly, which John and Piotr both appreciated greatly.

"Well, like hi," started Kitty, "We've never really been formally introduced. I'm Kitty, and these are my friends, Kurt and Rogue," she gestured to each as she spoke.

"Oy'm John, and this is moy mate, Piotr, or as Oy call him, Petey. Rems is helping the Badger thare wit' tha security at tha moment," said John enthusiastically. Both were excited to have someone actually put aside their differences and actually be nice and talk to them. For that, they were grateful.

"I just haf to know, does Old Buckethead haf a metal fetish?" asked Kurt trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yeah, mate, but fortunately, we goyt ta live at a small townhouse closah ta tha train station or subway that went tha New York from West Salem, where we lived. Oy mean he made us go tha base almos' everyday. And it's completely metal, which makes it eitah exceedingly cold or hot. He always made an excuse, loyke it was easy access foy him or somethin'."

"Vell, at least youss couldn't be physically moved by him vith his magnetism. It's not how you say, cool, it makes you all staticky and tingly," added Piotr.

The small group of five had a good laugh at this and began to get to know each other better, while the others talked amongst themselves. Tabby, Amara, Rahne, and Jubilee were gossiping about the cute new boys and how they would love to see them all sweaty and shirtless after a DR session. They were debating which ones they could see themselves dating; Colossus, the strong silent type who was definitely the tall dark and handsome type and totally sweet, Pyro, the crazy insane one, who could always make you laugh and had a cute smile, or Gambit the totally sexy, drop dead gorgeous bad boy and total ladies' man, who knew exactly how to charm you. The four girls were kind of jealous at how Rogue and Kitty had easily begun to talk to them.

Sam, Roberto, Ray and Bobby were all currently plotting as to how to make sure the new boys didn't move into their territory, like all egotistical males. Scott and Jean were chatting quietly about their new allies. Both were very shocked and surprised to learn that the professor could be so smart, cunning and scheming. He was definitely the world's greatest telepath with reason. While, they were weary of their new team mates, both were burying the proverbial hatchet. They were willing to give the boys a chance, when they seemed like decent people who were just caught in bad circumstances, which Magneto had manipulated to his favour. Also, both felt extremely guilty that they were safe in the mansion, while others were suffering needlessly. Evan and Alex were conversing about the new recruits and how they felt so helpless doing nothing to help those that they knew needed help at the moment. Betsy was comforting Jamie, who was very insightful and smart for a boy his age, while helping the adults with sorting through the stolen data. Hank was analysing the virus while Ororo and the professor were reading on the layout of the bases, the plans that Stryker planned and the other information and devices that Stryker planned to use, from the files that the boys had taken. Logan, Remy and Warren were finalizing the updates and monitoring the positions of the men watching them, without being hostile, since hostility would allow the men to attack the Institute.

When the professor looked up and surveyed the large, richly decorated War Room, he was happy to see how his students got along with each other, and how he had finally taken John and Piotr out of such a terrible situation. He had already offered on their secret meetings to send the boys home briefly, for some time, to see their families, after the whole crisis was over and Remy as well, since he was constantly monitoring the situation with the Guild. All boys had agreed happily and thanked him for his kindness. It pleased Charles to see how his X-Men had grown and how they had indeed became great friends as well as family. His family had also expanded with people like Betsy and Warren joining to help out at the mansion and his dream, as well as Alex joining to be closer to his long lost brother and to gain better control of his powers, and now the former Acolytes, he had been waiting for more than two years to finally introduce the dashing young man he had recruited and his friends to the X-Men and knew that they would be valuable additions to the team. He had seen the X-Men grow and change and each blossom into unique and incredible individuals and how much they had changed recently, not only in appearance, but in maturity and persona as well.

He turned to his original six students and senior X-Men children. They had all changed and become some of the most amazing people he had the pleasure of meeting as well as teaching. They each had changed greatly. They had gone through personal demons and come out stronger because of it. It pleased him to see Evan among them, back at the mansion. He had left and there was a noticeable hole in the team, he had rarely visited due to the secrecy the Morlocks needed to survive. However, when it became apparent to the Morlocks that in isolation, they were hurting themselves by not knowing what was occurring in the world above their heads, they allowed Spyke to spend time with his adopted and actual family.

The professor smiled to see his students flourishing and happy. His X-Men had grown and expanded, but that feeling of camaraderie and family was still there. He had a mix of his new recruits and old, staff and students, old enemies now friends, which he had welcomed and nurtured with open arms, allowing it to blossom and grow to be something great, something worth fighting together for a dream that mattered.

He looked to his first student, and prodigal, Scott, whom he had always looked to as a son. The term at university had done him some good. He was now a little less commanding, controlling and perfection orientated. He was more relaxed and good humoured and it showed. The students enjoyed being around him more, since he loosened up and listened to him more as he was now more patient. He had always been kind and caring and the changes in him now made him a better person. He was still competitive and liked to be at the top, but less so.

His attitude was not the only thing that had changed. Scott was slightly taller now and six foot three. He had gotten a buzz cut that looked much better than his old haircut and had changed the look of his glasses slightly, so that they were cooler looking and less large and cumbersome. The glasses also allowed his blue eyes, which were long deprived of color, due to his mutation, needing the ruby quartz glasses. He wore a pair of loose dark blue faded jeans with a black leather belt, as well as a black V-neck sweater, with a white T-shirt underneath. He also had a silver watch and a pair of black, blue and white runners.

His girlfriend, Jean, had also changed some. She was still the girl who everyone liked, but was now less perfect. The term at university had allowed her to loosen up and move away from her stereotype. She was still 18, but would turn 19 soon, after Scott's 19th birthday in a few weeks. Everyone still liked her, but now did not find her perfection annoying. She had definitely loosened up and was less annoying to be around. She had also changed her style a little and was no longer a perfect prep look. She had incorporated a little bit of vintage into her style and it looked very good on her.

Jean's hair was now about ten inches shorter and touched the midpoint of her shoulder blades. She had gotten bangs that covered her eyebrows slightly and layers as well in her hair that framed her face. She wore a green hoodie that bought out her blue-green eyes, a black T-shirt with a butterfly screened on it, a black belt and a pair of faded blue flared out jeans. Her jeans accentuated her tall five foot ten inch frame. She had a bracelet style silver watch on her wrist, as well as a medium sized silver bangle, hoop earrings and a heart pendant from Scott. She also wore a pair of olive green and white vintage style sneakers.

Kurt too had gotten taller and was six feet and still growing as he proudly put it. He had just turned 17 like Kitty had and would be attending his last year of Bayville High School along with her and his sister, Rogue. He was still the happy go lucky joker, but had developed a slight seriousness and maturity to his overall silliness. He was still the same old fun loving humorous guy, but knew when to be serious and work. He had just gotten back from visiting his parents in his native Germany for Christmas, and they had been surprised with his height and how well he had matured as well as his much improved English. But perhaps the best part about Kurt that didn't change was that he was still blue and fuzzy, only now he was proud of it and was no longer insecure about his appearance. He only wore his image inducer in public, so that people would not harass him and not to hide himself from the world.

His hair was a little shorter now and didn't go down his neck and he had developed a slight Eurotrash style hair that was swept to one side. He looked very cute with his blue eyes and hair that made his golden eyes stand out. His three fingered hands were stuffed into the pockets of his baggy blue jeans that were held up by a long black belt which had the end dangling around his thighs. He had a red T-Shirt with his favourite band name printed on the front in bold lettering, Rammstein, and a white long-sleeved shirt underneath. A rather large watch was strapped to his arm and he wore a chain on his neck, given to him by his girlfriend, Amanda. He had a pair of Blue and red skate shoes on his three toed feet and his prehensile tail swished happily from the back of his pants.

Kitty had stopped saying 'like,' 'totally,' 'icksome', and 'Oh my God' so much, finally loosing a bit of her Valley Girl persona. She was still the same kind and caring person who was Kurt and Rogue's best friend. The three of them were incredibly close. She stopped being a total trend follower, but still had an amazing fashion sense and loved to shop. Only now, Rogue had no problem shopping with her as she had changed her tastes a bit. She no longer was into commercialized pop music and preferred more of a light rock style. However, she was still short and petite at five foot three.

Kitty had shorter hair than before that was now was just few inches slightly past her chin, in a short layered and choppy flipped out shag cut with caramel highlights. Her bangs were up to her cheeks and swept to her right side. It was a cute sophisticated and older look for the Valley girl which she got after she broke up with Lance, a while back. They had both agreed to stay friends. She wore a lavender coloured zip up turtleneck sweater, with a blue long sleeved tee, that had the words 'Paradise Bay' printed on it, with a beach scene. She wore a red belt with a pair of black flare pants borrowed from Rogue. A pretty beaded necklace adorned her neck, and a silver charm bracelet was on her wrist along with a thin leather watch. Kitty also had hoop earrings and studs in her multiply pierced ears. She also wore powder blue and white tennis sneakers.

Rogue had now become less of a recluse and was more open to her friends, especially Kurt and Kitty. Out of all the people living there, they were the closest of friends. She was still an introverted Goth, but less so. Some things would never change, in that aspect. She may have been more outgoing, but she was still the same old Rogue that you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of. She had made friends with all those who were at the Institute and they were all good friends, but she was closer to Kurt and Kitty who knew her true self. The psyches though not as troublesome now, still gave her headaches sometimes. Rogue had also taken to wearing less of her thick makeup. Her face was no longer enshrouded in the white powder, even though she was naturally pale. She wore a thin line of black eyeliner around her eyes, with sparkly purple eyeliner on her bottom of the eye, under the liner and a line of dark purple shadow on her lids, only less intense now and not all around her eyes. A very pale purple dusting of shadow went above the eyes shadow on her lids with dark mascara on her long thick lashes. She also wore her purple-burgundy lip gloss.

Rogue still wore her Gothic attire like a badge of honour though. Her hair was longer now and went past her shoulders a little. It was layered and her white bangs were cut just below her cheeks so that they framed her face. She had dyed black streaks into it, that went all over her hair, with the auburn cinnamon of her natural hair colour, still showing more than the black, even though it was everywhere in her tresses. She left her pure snowy white bangs alone though. Currently, her hair was in a high short pony tail, with the ends trapped in her green and purple hair ties so that it looped with the edges going in every which direction. She let her white bangs hang loose and frame her face. She also had three thin one centimetre thick hair bands in her hair. The closest one to her face, was her trademark green and had a pretty shine and sparkle to it, the next one was black and had rhinestones placed methodically across its length, her third head band was purple and shiny.

Rogue wore a large purple T-shirt that she had altered to fit her small frame by cutting it so that it fit off the shoulder and tied it at her waist for a tighter fit. It had black swirled designs that were screened on. Underneath, so as not to have any skin anyone would touch accidentally, she wore a black three quarter length T-shirt that had a boat neck. Under this for extra protection and warmth, she wore a sheer black, thin small holed, mesh shirt. On her hands were a pair of black flowery lace gloves that Ororo had gotten her for Christmas and a pair of fingerless gloves over top of that. She had black studded leather wrist cuffs that was also a watch on her left hand and completed her look. A black hoodie fabric style black jacket was hung on her chair and went past her waist and had green markings all over it and silver buttons on the neck clasp flappy thing and at the waist flap thing. It was what Logan had got her for Christmas and she absolutely loved it. She wore a pair of long bell bottomed black pants with a black completely studded leather belt. She also wore a hunter green skirt made of soft thin layered and floaty material. It was cut like one of those witch costumes and crinkled to give it a better look, the shortest pieces stopped mid thigh, the longest just above her knees. She also had a purple belt with multiple holes dangling at her hips over the dress. Her look was completed by her black and silver knee high socks underneath her fishnet stockings to keep out the ever present New York cold she hated and a pair of purple ugg boots Kitty had got her for Christmas. They were slightly healed and platformed and were fashioned more like a pair of biker boots or hobnail boots and had a combination of sneaker and winter boot elements to it, since they had black satin laces and were glorious suede. She had though they were her best Christmas gift that year and had thanked Kitty repeatedly for the mid-calf high boots. She also had several studs and hoops adorning her ears at the lobes and cartilage. She had gotten a small stud done on her nose and a small double ball eyebrow ring on her left brow and right nostril, respectively. She had a leather chocker, a chain necklace that hung on her collar bone with a Egyptian pendant from Kurt and large ball chain necklace with several charms adorning her neck. (hmm, I wonder why I described Rogue the best…)

Evan who had come back recently to go to school and be with his friends outside the Morlocks had definitely changed his perspective on life during his time with the Morlocks and valued his rich lifestyle much more now, and saw the worth in everyday things like toothbrushes and soap. He was still much of the same boy though, just more insightful about the world around him. He was still the big skater dude of the group and he had finally learned to control his spike plates so that they receded back into his body. Evan still enjoyed skateboarding. When he finally learned to control his bone plates, he found that, he had, in fact, grown several inches to be Scott's height, to which he was more than pleased as he was only seventeen and still had this year and the next of high school to finish. He had been delayed slightly at school due to his time with the Morlocks; otherwise, he'd be graduating with Kitty, Rogue and Kurt this year. He didn't mind though, since he had friends at school in the New Mutants.

He wore a large blue hooded sweatshirt with the DC shoe company insignia on the front. His dark baggy blue jeans and red belt that hung similarly to Kurt's completed his outfit. Evan had a black T-shirt underneath with a skateboarder printed on the front as well. He also wore a pair of black and white skate shoes from Vans and had a sweat band and watch on his wrist. His hair was still cropped close to his head and had the same blonde cut with the shaved out section. Only now, it had shaved designs in the back half too. (-couldn't think of anything good. He's in the story because Evo writers neglect him way too much. He could have been an interesting semi-original character, but no. So he just seems random and weird. I however do enjoy Evan- bashing quite a bit and love Dis Chick Digs Da Fuzzy Dude's Mutants of the Caribbean and XMulan for F.SPYKE, oh and how about F.JEAN Fangirls Jumping Ecstatically Annihilating the Ninny)

His Hawaiian friend Alex sat beside him and wore a light blue T-shirt with a surf scene on it, with a long sleeved black tee underneath and one of his oversized Hawaiian T-shirts over it. He had a pair of baggy blue jeans and black belt as well. He wore a pair of black and blue skate shoes too. Alex had recently joined the X-Men as his mutating powers had affected his control of the blasts on his hands and to be closer to his older brother, Scott, who he had only recently known was alive after a plane accident, in which they were separated as young children. He had grown a few inches during the summer and it showed, since he was only now just about three or four inches shorter than Scott.

The gaggle of gossiping girls were adjacent to the two skater boys. Rahne, the most tomboy of the bunch wore a black zip up hoodie over her long sleeved green tee with a black screened wolf on it and a pair of brown flared velvety pants with a black belt and brown and white skate shoes on her feet. Her formerly red pigtailed hair was cut shorter with the length being about one to two inches in the back layer and three to five inches long in the front or top layer. It was flipped out with her longer bangs framer her wolfish face off to one side. It was a definite girlified boy cut as Tabitha put it. Rahne had a growth spurt and had grown several inches in the last year and was now about five foot nine from her previous five foot four. Tabitha, the other semi-tomboy wild child wore a hot pink T-shirt with yellow lettering stating, 'Remember me, I'll be A Star Someday,' on it. She wore a golden brown hoodie over top from TNA, and a pair of dark flared blue jeans and baby blue skate shoes on her feet. Her blonde hair was slightly longer now, down to her shoulders and layered, with shorter bangs swept to one side and all of her hair flipped out with a curling iron. The layer which hung past her shoulders the longest was died black and contrasted highly with her blonde hair on the upper layers of her hair. She was now about five foot seven inches tall.

The tall Irish girl and wild child were across from their fiery Asian friend and the Nova Roman princess. Amara had dyed some honey blonde streaks into her dark hair and had it cut and layered. Her bangs hung underneath her chin and she wore a necklace with the Nova Roman symbol on it. She had on a red T-shirt with a white zip up hoodie and faded black flare jeans and black and white tennis shoes. She was about five foot eight inches tall and still growing. Jubilation Lee wore a minty green T-shirt with hot pink fireworks and the word 'firecracker' on it. Over top, she wore a pale yellow hoodie and a pair of long faded and flared blue jeans with a pair of yellow, black and white vintage sneakers. Her hair was very layered with her bangs hanging just below her cheeks. The first layer stopped at the nape of her neck and the rest of her hair spilled down midway to her shoulder blades, in that over popularized Asian look. She also had some purplish-red highlights died into her hair. A Chinese pendant of a dragon was on her neck. She was petite, but slightly taller than Kitty at five foot five inches tall.

In the room, across from the gaggle of gossiping girls were the posse of scheming boys. Ray was definitely the most noticeable; he had a cherry red Mohawk that had a centimetre of his naturally blonde shortly cropped blonde hair at either side of the Mohawk. It definitely brought out his green eyes. The Mohawk made him seem taller than Scott, when in fact he was an inch shorter. It was definitely funny to see that Fearless Leader had his status as tallest guy thrown out the window, due to the other mutants maturing and the new guys' arrival in Remy, John and Piotr. His 'hawk had black tips and his longer orange stuck up bangs were still present.

He had gotten a few more holes in his ears, an eyebrow ring and had a lip and tongue ring, which the guys teased him about and the girls loved. Unfortunately, he had to wait until he was seventeen to get a tattoo. He had been able to get more punk and metal without the presence of his parents 24/7. He had a studded choker and black hoodie with the white West Coast Chopper's cross symbol on it. He wore a red T-shirt underneath with a black anarchy symbol on it from Atticus. He wore a white Travis' stars and straps belt with a silver belt bucket and baggy brown pants with rips at the knees held together with safety pins. 'Zerker also had a pair of his favourite red Converse high tops on. A pair of studded leather wrist cuffs completed his look. Even though he was punk, he did not cross the line to the Goth, super punk look. He didn't wear the eyeliner and couldn't be classified as skate punk anymore. (I like Berzerker too; he's my fave New Mutant.) Underneath the punk look, he was still the same Ray that could blow a fuse literally, over anything. He still had his temper, but he had definitely mellowed out.

Bobby Drake sat on a chair, one of four, he and the posse and moved to sit in across the room from the girls. His dirty blonde to brown hair was in need of a haircut as it spilled into his blue eyes. Bobby wore a black T-Shirt with the words 'Colder than Ice' in bold font on the front. He was still the joker of the group and his pranks ad only gotten worse, due to the team up he and Jubilee often had. He had on a navy hoodie over top of the T-shirt with a snowflake and a snowboarder. He wore dark jeans, a navy belt, which hung like Kurt's and blue and white skate shoes. He was just shy of six foot two and was sixteen years old.

To Bobby's left was the sporty Brazilian, Roberto. He wore a red soccer jersey from one of his favourite players, David Beckham, from when Becks was part of Manchester United. He had on a white polyester zip up sweater from Addidas with black stripes down the sleeves. He wore a pair of sweat bands on his wrist and had on a pair of black guy style baggy track pants with buttons and blue strips down the side. A pair of red and white basketball sneakers completed his athletic look. He was highly frustrated that at five foot eleven, he was stuck in the parallels of never reaching six feet tall. His only consolation was that he was sixteen and had time to grow.

Sam, the shy southern skate enthusiast, but all round nice guy, sat across from Roberto. His shaggy blond skateboarder hair had developed a slight curl, which the girls thought were cute, and covered his blue eyes slightly. He was in the awkward teenager phase and was a big klutz at sixteen, constantly falling and breaking things. His six foot two inch and a bit height was accentuated by his lean, ectomorph form that at sixteen, could only get taller. He wore a yellow skate T-shirt with a black skateboarder on the front with a black long sleeved tee underneath, with a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of red and black skate shoes. He had a silver chain around his neck and a watch on his wrist.

Jamie, the youngest X-Man was shyly talking to Betsy, near the group updating the security. Betsy was comforting the shy fourteen year old mutant. She was greatly impressed by his insightfulness into the whole crisis while helping the boys wherever she could with the computer work. Jamie wore a red and blue stripped polo shirt, with a white T-shirt underneath. He also had on a pair of faded blue jeans and white sneakers with a black belt to hold the pants that were slightly too big up. His shaggy brown hair was in need of a haircut and always fell into his brown eyes.

Betsy's long purple hair was pulled away from her Asian featured face in an elaborate twist that was held together with a pair of black chopsticks. Her dark brown eyes were focused on the screen ahead of her, but her ears where on Jamie and his insightful words. She wore a deep purple sweater with flared sleeves that had a longer turtle neck style collar that was very loose and hung over her shoulders in an off the shoulder style, which revealed the black long sleeved shirt she wore underneath. She also had on a pair of faded black jeans and black flat heeled leather boots that were sensible for working in a place with many teenagers on the loose. A long purple scarf was tied to her waist as a belt. Psylocke had a small diamond pendant hanging on her neck, given to her by Warren as well as silver bracelets on her wrists, silver hoops on her ears, and a watch.

Betsy's boyfriend, Warren, wore a navy turtleneck sweater with a silver watch from Betsy for Christmas. The sweater was special and allowed for his pure white angel wings to be free. His blond hair was impeccably trimmed into a buzz cut and his sharp blue eyes were scanning the screen for troublemakers on display due to the cameras around the estate. He wore a pair of tan coloured khaki pants and a pair of black leather shoes that were comfortable and sensible.

Logan wore a maroon coloured T-shirt with a blue black and grey plaid designed lumberjack style flannel shirt over it with his faded blue jeans and black leather belt. He also had a pair of heavy leather biker boots and a simple watch on. His fingers typed furiously on the keys as he updated the security with Gambit who was doing the same. His look contrasted greatly with the Junoesque African woman seated beside him who was reading the intel stolen from Stryker's base.

Storm's now layered hair hung loosely down her back in a graceful manner. She was tall and regal, and was taller than Jean Grey. She wore a white cashmere sweater with a boat neck paired with a black feminine blazer, with large white flowers on the left portion. She had on an African style necklace and a pair of loose straight-legged black business pants that resembled cargo pants, but without the pockets. She also had on a wide white belt and a thick engraved bracelet on her wrist.

Hank, the beastly scientist wore a grey turtleneck sweater with a blackish navy blazer and black pants and belt, with a pair of practical black hiking boots. He was currently reading all the information on the legacy virus and had a look very similar to that of the professor, who wore a green blazer with a black turtleneck sweater, dark pants held up with a brown belt and a pair of practical leather slacks.

(people describing overload, there's like 20 freaking people!)

As Professor Xavier scanned the room, he couldn't help but notice how well his people worked together despite their different ages. Ororo, Logan, Hank, Warren, Betsy and himself were adults, but they hadn't lost touch with their inner youth and the students could definitely talk to any of them, except maybe Logan. Scott and Jean were both 18 going on 19 in a few weeks and were in university, however, still had close ties to all those at the Institute. Rogue, Kitty and Kurt were all seventeen and going for their last year at Bayville, except for Evan, who was also 17. Rogue, however, would be turning 18 this year in a few months time, and Kitty, Kurt and Evan had all just recently turned 17. Kurt and Kitty in the late fall and Evan in early December. The new mutants, Bobby, Ray, Jubilee, Amara, Sam, Tabby, Rahne, Alex and Roberto were all 16, except Rahne, who would be 16 in a few days. They were all in their second year of high school and many were about to turn 17. The former Acolytes had all just turned 19 in the winter and were going on twenty this year, except for Remy, who was a year older and turning 21 in the fall.

"Okay, Chuck," started Logan, "the security's updated, and the commandos outside look like they're backing off the grounds and just leaving a few men to monitor the mansion. They shouldn't cause too many problems."

"Alright," responded Xavier, "Well, since they are backing off and the virus threat will be lessened, I'll allow all of you to return to the upper levels and we'll have dinner in about an hour or two from now as I believe it is Scott, Jean, Bobby and Jubilee's turn to cook. However, I do not want anyone outdoors for any reason and the mansion will still be in lockdown mode."

The students around the room nodded at hearing this and some began to move out of the room and head to the upper levels of the mansion while some, like Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt stayed behind to show the newbies around and just basically talked to the guys. The few adults were still monitoring their situation and reading files as Logan told Remy to get out of here so that he could unpack his and John and Piotr's things in which he had hoarded for about two months in a room that the adults had forbidden the students to enter by pain of the Wolverine, and to tour the mansion with the rest of the former Acolytes.

Remy began to stalk over to his friends who were chatting with Kitty, Kurt and Rogue. As he walked across the room to the area by the entrance where they were waiting for him, he said, "Well, mes amis, t'anks for waitin' fer me."

"No worries, mate, we were just about ta leave anyway," replied St. John cheerily.

"Yeah, we're gonna like show you guys to your room, now and give you a tour of the mansion first," expanded Kitty.

"That sounds good, p'tite," responded Remy and Kitty nodded slightly.

"Ya know, we all honestly thought zhat Logan vas hoarding his alcohol in zhere, since he told us not to go in," stated Kurt, "its kinda veird zhat he vas just preparing your room."

"Yeah," agreed Rogue, "We had a pool going about what was reallah in thare. We'd bettah get goin on tha tour." She led the group to the elevator in which every one else except the adults had already gone up in. The boys grabbed the bags with some of the personal items they had taken with them last minute.

As they were waiting for the elevator to descent, after dropping off the kids inside to the various upper levels in the mansion, Remy asked, "Hey, Rogue, Can I talk t' y' later?" as they were waiting a little bit behind the others consisting of Kurt, Kitty, Piotr and John. He caught her eye and couldn't help but stare into their emerald depths.

"Uh…Yeah, sure, Swamp Rat," responded Rogue, shyly as she gazed into his blazing eyes. She couldn't help but remember how as Remy was basically telling his life story, he left out all the pain and torment that was really in it. The others got a taste, but she knew the truth. When he had started to talk, it was like his memories from his psyche had revealed themselves and she could see all that he went through. She knew that he had only reluctantly told his life story, because the X-Men deserved the truth after being deceived for so long and it was the only way they would trust him to the oncoming dangers.

Rogue had noticed that he didn't exactly tell the others the whole entire truth of his life, but that was okay, she wouldn't tell the others the full details of her past either, however he lacked the emotion in his voice as he told the X-Men his story. She could feel the pain that his memories brought him in his psyche. He had a good life, but it was marred by torment, pain and betrayal.

She knew that he blamed himself immensely for Henri's injuries and for almost taking him away from his sister in law, Mercy. Henri had nearly died when his powers mutated, and he could not forgive himself for being the cause of the Assassins' attacks spurred on by his arch-nemesis, Julien. The inter Guild marriage was the only thing the siblings disagreed on. Bella was willing to wed for the necessity of the Guild, but despised Remy. Julien just wanted to kill the Thief because he was bigoted and he did not want Remy to wed Belle.

He would never forget the night when Julien tried to stab him and stabbed Henri instead, when his dear brother stepped in the way to save his life. He remembered when he later accidentally charged Julien's sword, the one used to stab Henri, mentally, without touching it. It had exploded and injured Julien terribly. He would always remember Emil screaming, "He's bleeding so badly, Rem, I can't stop it," or Lapin whispering, "…the blood, there's so much blood," in the aftermath of Remy's attacks in which all the Assassins that attacked them were severely wounded. He remembered the mental, emotional and physical pain he felt afterwards and remembered fainting from the intense strain on his body and Lapin catching him as a bunch of Thieves moved into the street to vacate the area of the four males.

"Swamp Rat?" he asked amusedly.

She knew that others had caused him pain and still others had betrayed and used him. His father, to whom he still loved like one, despite how the Elixir had changed him, made him greedy, overly ambitious and malign. Their father-son relationship had been badly damaged when Jean-Luc had taken the Elixir. His father used him for his mutant powers and stopped being what a father should. He stopped caring for the well being of his son, just how much he could make him steal.

Rogue knew how much his mother's death had affected him. Marianne was his adoptive mother, but she still loved him like her own son. She was a kind, loving woman, but sickly woman who had contracted a terminal illness when Remy was ten years old. Her cancer had made her frail, and she was confined to bed rest. The brewing conflict between the Guilds only added to her stress and the occasions when she would actually leave the house was rare.

When he was eleven, Marianne, Remy, Henri and Jean-Luc had left the house for a short of family day. They were all very happy despite the pain that the illness had caused for all of them. Jean-Luc decided to take Henri to buy new shoes and Marianne decided to wait for them while taking Remy for some ice cream. The young boy had taken to wearing sunglasses constantly in public to avoid the stares that people gave him, when they saw his blood red eyes.

When they were walking in the market, somehow, his glasses fell off and many people were exposed to his eyes. Unfortunately, a large crowd had gathered and began to start the all too familiar shouting of devil spawn. Marianne had tried to get Remy safe and had taken him and fled. They had regrettably gotten trapped in an alley. The mob had taken to attacking them and Remy had been beaten repeatedly. By trying to prevent further injury to Remy, the mob beat her too. When they had been rushed to the hospital, Marianne had died, adding fuel to Remy's already self-loathing due to his demon eyes. However, the only consolation was that she would have died in a few days due to her cancer. Jean-Luc and Marianne had only left the house with the boys to spend one more day together.

"Yeah, ya from New Orleans, tha bayou," elaborated Rogue.

The man, boy really, not yet 21, had been though so much pain in his relationships. A girl who he thought he had loved at thirteen ended up changing and drifting away. She didn't break his heart, just made him realize it wasn't love at all. Belle had been a childhood friend. He thought he loved her, but it was infatuation and he never wore his heart on his sleeve after that event. She had changed greatly from the sweet, lively girl that she used to be to be the ruthless cunning assassin she was today, all due to the Elixir and Candra's influence. Luckily Candra hadn't infiltrated the Thieves Guild until Remy was about 17.

He remembered his first mission as a Master Thief that had taken him to Paris, where he met Genevieve, the first to ever really break his heart. He had thought he had played her, used her and even betrayed her and had even felt guilty about it, after he was sure he had fallen for her in the six months they had been in Paris, working between the French and American Guilds. He was supposed to steal the ironically named L'Etoile Tricherie, the Cheating Star, from her by persuading, using and charming her into believing she could trust him. They had been a pair of the best thieves and partners. Until it turned out that he was the one being played, used and betrayed all along. He, the Gambit who played the women, was outsmarted by one, who hurt him in the end.

On their last heist, he discovered that she was actually a mole from a rival Thief association, the Argonauts, and had left him to die in an ancient castle, after she had knocked him out and taken the jewels from him. However, not before telling him, "You were perhaps my best game, because you were playing me too. I loved you, but I love these more." She then took the Cheating Star and said, "You'll never have me or this, though it was fun," and gave him a chaste kiss on his gagged mouth. She was perhaps his first true love and even at one point thought she was the one. He had closed his heart then, and started to expand his playboy status after that incident. Fortunately, he had been able to escape the castle before anyone caught him. He was the Prince of Thieves after all.

"Well den, dat woul' make chere a Mississippi River Rat," responded Remy.

It was ironic that Genevieve's associates decided to betray her. They decided that she had created a trail that was much too noticeable and decided to cut their losses by taking back all she had earned and stolen for them. The Argos had decided to invite Remy to watch them ultimately kill her with the promise that they'd 'let her go' if he stole for them. Remy didn't believe them and left when they said that they had Gen, thus unknowingly condoning her to death. He lived with the guilt that he let one suffer everyday, but as Henri reminded him, "Dey were goin' t' kill her anyway, no matter what y' did, Rem."

He did get revenge on the Argos by robbing them blind and stealing all the wealth they had gained by placing Gen in the Guild. It was bittersweet and he regretted what had happened in that Paris, but still loved the city for all it was. The regret that lined his thoughts when associated with Paris was only for Genevieve and not the bright city. The Guild was pleased because they had been able to destroy one of their rivals and their most promising Thief had stolen a most valuable gem for them. Jean-Luc used to be proud back then and had told him, "Someday you'll find 'er, mon fils," prior to congratulating him on the theft.

"You two coming?" asked Kurt, breaking up the two southerner's conversation, as the elevator to the upper levels opened up.

"Yeah, we're comin' Kurt," said Rogue to her brother. The eye contact between the two broke, as she and Remy entered the elevator after the four mutants who entered ahead of them. The stare which had exchanged so many unknown words and thoughts between the two was over. All that was left unsaid between them, seemed to resonate in each of their hearts with that first glance.

* * *

The ride in the elevator proved uneventful, but Kurt, Rogue and Kitty gave the three boys truly a grand tour. They had shown them the main living room near the entrance hall that the boys had first entered from when breaking into the mansion. They had then led the boys to the hall where the infamous elevator was, then to the vast expanses of rooms that were known as the dining room, breakfast nook, and kitchen. Each was rich and beautifully decorated. Remy surveyed the affluence and noted the worth of all the furniture and art due to his thief training. He also noticed the exits and entrances of each room, another piece of training ingrained into him as a child of the Guild. 

The kitchen was truly the center of the Xavier Institute and had a chrome industrial sized refrigerator, microwave, oven and stovetop. The table tops were all done in beautiful black granite with white embedded into it. The cupboards were all of a dark brown cherry wood and there was a raised area on the island where you could sit and eat due to the barstools there. The walls were painted a rich warm golden yellow and had blue and red tiles decorating the walls. The floor had reddish brown tiles that only accentuated the room's décor.

The large breakfast nook next to the kitchen, where you would enter from a swinging door, was decorated in much of the same way with the same coloured paint on the walls and the same type of wood on the frames and doors leading into it. It had a huge wooden table with many wooden chairs to its sides in the center of the room. Some beautiful paintings were also hung on the walls. The floor was done in dark hardwood.

The dining room was decorated exactly like a fancy dining room should and was where all the mutants had dinner. It was large and airy and had chandeliers for lighting that were made of beautiful crystals in an elaborate pattern. There were rich rugs in the room that was painted a tranquil green and had dark wooden frames in it. It had a huge entrance framed with carved wood that had giant vases at each side. Paintings hung on the walls and there was a huge carved and gilded table in the centre with many fancy chairs for seating.

Rogue, Kitty and Kurt then showed the guys the rec room with its white walls, ping pong table, pool table, snack bar, gaming station of PS2, Game Cube and X-Box and a miniature basketball net among many things. Next to that in a open entrance was the theatre room, where everyone gathered to watch TV or movies in a group. There were other rooms to watch movies or TV, but this one had the best TV and seating, since it was a flat widescreen that was much more than 60 inches and had tons of comfortable seating in the various couches, arm chairs, pillows and bean bag chairs in the room, along with lots of extra cushions. It had lots of framed movie posters lining the wall. Xavier's grand office was also in the main floor.

There was also a large grand ball room off to the side of the mansion that had a brilliant view of the woods, mountains, pool and lake near it, when it wasn't blocked by metal sheets. The ball room was decorated in the way you would expect a ball room to be decorated and it was there that the opulence of the Xavier Institute shone through. They also had a huge garage that stored their normal vehicles, sporting equipment and other goods. There were Logan's motorcycles, Ororo, Betsy, Warren, Jean and Scott's cars, some Institute cars like the X-Van, X-Jeep and a pair of SUVs. Their planes, jets, helicopters and other vehicles were stored in the subbasement hangar under the level with the Danger Room, Locker Rooms, War Room and Cerebro and led out to a waterfall which fell into the ocean from a cliff beside the sea.

After the tour of the or the main level, the group headed up the winding stair case in the main hall that had a landing in it before breaking into two forked stairs that led to the boys' and girls' wings of the 'dorms'. As they stopped at the landing, the group opened the door on the landing and led the new boys into their huge sprawling library. It had many entrances, but the entrances from the upstairs showed it off the best. The other entrances were on the main level as well as stairs leading down from the dorms in the students' wings.

The room was huge and had every book conceivable for research and had a huge section of fiction works. The bookshelves touched the ceiling as did the windows. Other shelves were placed on the areas away from the windows as well, though no where as tall. There were cushioned benches under each window that looked into the gardens and courtyard Ororo was so proud of and had huge wooden tables and desks to study at with those olden style green book lamps everywhere. It was perfect for studying and hand computers and laptops in the room. Huge chandeliers were used to light the expanse as well and there were other landings and stairs in the room that led to bookshelves, hidden study corners of desks or entrances to the floor upstairs.

After the boys were wowed by the main floors of the Xavier Institute, their tour guides told them of their racquet sports facility that was located beside the garage, the tennis and basketball courts located outside behind the courtyard and pool, and Art Room that was near the rec room. They also mentioned the various bathrooms laid out throughout the main floor. The outdoor porch that led from the ballroom for barbeques was also mentioned. The other stairs that led down to the lower main floor from the dorm areas were also mentioned to the boys.

When they were done explaining the layout of the mansion to Remy, John and Piotr who were thoroughly impressed with the expanse and opulence of the mansion, the three tour guides, Rouge, Kurt and Kitty, showed the boys the sleeping quarters, games rooms, sitting rooms, TV rooms, and private quarters or suites that were on the upper levels. The student rooms were on the second floors along with the private student in-room bathrooms located in each room as well as a two extra fully loaded bathrooms in each wing used to decrease bathroom waits.

The private suites or quarters were suites or almost apartment like rooms for the professor, Hank, Jean and Scott, Betsy and Warren and Logan and Ororo. They had usually more than one bedroom, and were split levelled, with a master bath, a separate bathroom, and sitting area. These rooms were on the third floor. Logan and Ororo's were special though, since they had renovated it into a somewhat loft that led up to Ororo's lofty attic from Logan's private quarters that were conveniently underneath. Because of this, they had the roomiest private living quarters of the separate apartment-like areas.

The room the boys would be sharing was on a split level and was sort of in a small hallway that led from the girl's dorm to the boys. You climbed about seven small stairs in one dorm then down another small flight to the other side. Their whole room was raised higher than the other rooms in the dorms and had a larger balcony that had an arch underneath that was the entrance to the ball room from the pool. There were white marble staircases on either side of the balcony that led down to the porch or patio area in front of the pool from the ballroom. The entrance to the balcony was a huge pair of doors that were beside a pair of huge windows that had benches underneath. There was a beautiful painting of a winter scene in the hall and the room was like a large loft and was bigger than the already huge rooms in the dorms to accommodate the three boys that would be living in it.

When they opened up the room to see what it looked like, all were shocked. It was a huge room with thick carpeting and rugs on the floor. Thick, velvety black curtains with shiny red thread in it were drawn back from the magnificent windows and French doors that opened to the balcony. It had a huge bathroom which you entered from a door to the left and a large closet to the right. Three queen sized beds were located in the left, right and back center of the room. Remy's bed was closest to the door and was a four poster made of beautifully carved dark wood. Johns had an elegant wooden headboard and footboard that curled at the edges and was located on the right wall of the room further back from the door. Piotr's bed was simple and had a black headboard mounted to the wall with etchings in it. His bed seemed to float with out the footboard because of the blankets that were allowed to float off the edges gracefully without disturbance. Piotr's bed was located on a raised part of the room closest to the balcony and its grand windows. It was enclosed by a railing as it was about two feet higher than the rest of the room and had stairs that led from the main area to the balcony.

The room had a glorious view of the back of the mansion; the pool, patio, woods, mountains and lake. Piotr's area at the back had some easels, painting supplies and other art paraphernalia. Each boy had a desk in their private area as well as night tables, book shelves, a chest of draws and a dresser. They also had computers attached to their desks as well as lamps and other lighting fixtures in the room that matched each of their tastes perfectly. Some of the things they had given Logan to put in the room were evident in the photos, posters, statues, figurines, CDs and players, and other personal items that were scattered in the room. There was a large carved table in the center of the room as if it were a meeting spot for all of the boys, with four chairs surrounding it and a lamp in the far corner. There was also a couch in the room positioned near the railing the higher level.

Their room was painted a deep rustic red and had fathom blue streaks in the red paint to add to the red, and went with all their tastes well and blended with their individual tastes. Remy's sheets and blankets were red and black silk with flecks of the opposite colour in each fabric. Piotr's sheets were a deep cerulean blue and John's were orange, red and gold in the pattern of an oriental style dragon, phoenix and flames everywhere. His pillows were black to offset the colourful pattern.

John's area had transcripts of his books everywhere along with posters of his favourite bands, pictures of his families, CDs and everything else you'd expect of him scattered around. Remy's was much the same, except with out the transcripts and had three guitars, two electric and an acoustic, plus some of his Thief tools. Piotr's area was the same as well, but had painting supplies and the like. It had telephones in each of the boys' area. The room was framed by dark carved wood that surrounded the floor and entry ways. It not only had windows from the balcony, but windows on both Remy and John's areas. Everything was fire retardant, and it had a hidden sprinkler system.

"Wow, you guys got hooked up!" exclaimed Kitty excitedly.

"No kidding," returned Rogue sarcastically.

"These are way bettah than Magneto's digs, mates," stated John.

"Da," agreed Piotr nodding.

"Much better, hommes," finished Remy.

"Ze professor vreally knows how to decorate, ja?" summarised Kurt, "Even in secret, he and Logan can hoard all of zhis into ze room, unzher our very noses."

"I still can't believe he hid that for so long. We all thought that Logan was building a nursery because Ororo was secretly pregnant because they were always smiling with this knowing look after they left doing some stuff in there. We could always tell that they were building something, just not this," said Kitty.

"It reallah explains a lot," started Rogue, "like how Mistah McCoy woul' always leave complainin' about how he hated getting' his fur caught in the wood and having to hurry and mayke 'outrageous' gadgets for 'the cause.'"

"Ja, we always wondered vhat on earth ze cause vas," continued Kurt.

"Bobby, like totally told, Ms. Munroe that, 'You're really not showing yet, so you don't have to wear that loose skirt.' She gave him such a look that it would have sent Apocalypse shaking in his boots," continued Kitty.

"Oy doan' doubt it, shiela," said John.

"Me neither, p'tite," added Remy.

Piotr just finished with a stoic, "Da, comrades."

"Then, Ah guess Ray, Bobby, Sam and Roberto, must've jumped ta conclusions, one naht, when they saw Logan leave the room smelling lahke alcohol and thought that he was hiding his beer in there," said Rogue.

"Yeah, it's really been a big guessing game as to what the adults were like, doing in that room," elaborated Kitty, "Some of the guessing was just plain weird, though."

"Yeah, lahke tha secret spa Tabby thought of when she saw Hank leave the room with whayte gunk all over his face and fur. She thaught it was some special kinda face mask," said Rogue.

"Or Bobby's alien invasion theory, when he heard ze profezzer and Herr Logan arguing about ze dangers and merits of paint fumes and which metal would be best used to support ze weight of a bulldozer and ze ability for latex pain to burn," continued Bobby.

"Have ya noticed that Bobby seems ta come up with all tha theories, or is it just me?" asked Rogue.

"Nope, it's like definitely Bobby," deadpanned Kitty.

"Vell, ve'll leave you three to ze unpacking. Dinner should be ready in about half an hour," said Kurt as the three left, "Ve're having roast chicken, vith Jean's spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and triple chocolate fudge cake for dezzert," finished Kurt excitedly.

"Ve'll see youss at diner, comrades," replied Piotr with a grin, upon seeing Kurt's eagerness.

"See ya, mates," said John as he plopped himself on the bed to start unpacking.

"See y' later, chere," said Remy with a small wave as Rogue was the last to leave.

"Latah, Cajun," she replied with a wave as she turned ant left the room.

* * *

John and Piotr had already left the room about fifteen minutes ago to see what the others were doing while they waited for supper when Remy decided to go head downstairs as dinner would undoubtedly be ready soon. He had no problem remembering the layout of the mansion and decided to go into the girl's wing from the right stairs as the hall from the boy's wing to the main stairs was blocked by about ten Jamie duplicates at the moment arguing over one thing or another. 

He wasn't really paying attention, because he had too much on his mind, plus he was navigating his way through the vast halls of the X-Mansion. However he was knocked, literally, out of his reverie when he ran into an equally spaced out Rogue, who too, was heading downstairs to see if dinner was ready yet, since it was nearing 8 o' clock.

Remy recovered first and balanced his weight to avoid a fall by placing one foot behind the other, with his thief reflexes; he caught Rogue around her waist and pulled her close to him for her to regain her feet to the ground. They were in what would be considered a compromising position, but neither moved away for a moment.

"Sorry 'bout dat, chere," he apologized captured by her eyes once again.

For some reason, even without his empathy, Remy could sense the pain she had lived with in her short life. He felt, no knew, that Mystique wasn't the only cause of that and it saddened him to see someone like her to have to have seen so much of the world that was bad, like him. He couldn't know all that was going through her mind, but he had some irking of the torment in her past that was buried deep inside. Maybe it was her eyes that seemed to have a look too old, beyond her nearly 18 years of life, but whatever it was, he knew her sorrow and knew it well himself.

He knew Mystique's betrayal still stung her and that although she seemed better, it still hung in the air, affected who she trusted and got close to. He knew she still didn't let anyone penetrate her defenses except a select few that she knew could not hurt her. He knew she didn't want to hurt ever again. Just like he never wanted to again, either.

"Me, too, Ah was spacing back there," said Rogue as she broke his gaze and untangled herself from his arms to stand a good three feet across from him.

"Well, seein' as we're both here now, you wanna have dat talk I mentioned?" asked Remy.

"Shure, Cajun," responded Rogue, "Ah don' think that dinner's ready yet, and Ah guess Ah definitely got tha time ta spare. What d'ya wanna talk about?"

Rogue noticed he looked pretty good when he wasn't wearing his uniform and if she were Kitty, she would have told all the girls exactly how 'hot' he looked and although she thought he looked undeniably good, he was like the celebrity on TV. She would never have him, so what was the point? She had to admit that to herself because she knew he was a good looking guy, knew he had most of the girls wanting him because of that, but she wasn't attracted to him, but she acknowledged that he looked handsome, but without trying hard at all.

He wore a black long sleeved shirt that showed off his toned torso with a deep red zip-up hoodie with some black designs on it. Remy also had on a pair of worn and faded blue jeans with holes in the knees as well as a black studded leather belt. A pair of boots that looked a combination of combat boots and biker boots was on his feet with the jeans shoved into. He had a pair of fingerless gloves on with a wrist cuff and a watch on his hands and wrist. The ball chain necklace with the LeBeau crest on it was around his neck.

However, Rogue noticed the subtleties of his appearance, like how his goatee was gone, and how his copper-auburn hair had grown out a bit, so that his bangs touched his cheeks. She also further noticed that his left ear was double pierced, a stud was pierced into the cartilage of his right ear and that he too had a small eyebrow ring.

"I'd just like t' apologize, Rogue, fer why I took y' t' New Orleans. I didn't mean t' use you, but at de time, I saw no other way out t' save m' pere, no matter how much our relationship has deteriorated in the last few years. I know y' didn't need anot'er person usin' y' after all dat Mystique did t' y'. I didn't mean fer y' t' find out about why I really needed y' like dat. Kinda wanted t' tell y' m'self, personally," started Remy.

She started to say something, but Remy cut her off and he noticed how she had changed in the time since he last saw her. He had seen them, when he had first entered the War Room, but now they seemed more pronounced, now that he didn't fear for his life any more. She was a little taller now, around five foot eight, had obviously gotten some more piercings, more than the many she had in her ears, when he had abducted her, namely her nose and eyebrow, but it suited her and she had definitely gotten a little curvier. He could still see that she didn't trust easily by her weariness in his presence and that she had gained a little of the needed confidence to boost her self-esteem.

"I'd also like t' thank y' fer comin' back and helpin' m' get m' pere outta de Assassins' safe house. It meant a lot t' me. No one's ever helped m' like dat, y' gave m' de benefit o' de doubt. So thanks," he finished.

She could sense that he was being sincere with his words and that he really meant what he said and had felt guilty for using her and had apologized, which was more than Mystique had ever done. She knew she was seeing a rare side to him that not many got to see, and she knew he had taken off his facades to apologize to her, because he truly felt that he had to be genuine.

"Ah forgahve ya on tha bayou fo' that, remembah. And lahke Ah said back then, ya did tha wrong thing, fo' tha raight reasons. And Ah guess Ah also have ta thank ya fer takin' meh away from tha mansion fo' awhile, because Ah reallah needed it at tha time. Mah head was a mess with tha psyches, tha whole craziness at tha mansion, tha whole Apocalypse thing and all of Mystique's betrayals were finallah getting tam meh. Ah just couldn't take it anymore," Rogue began.

"But ya took meh away from all of that chaos going on in mah lahfe at tha time and made meh realize how much tha X-Men reallah mean ta me and that Ah reallah didn't wanna leave. Ah have more peace of mahnd, now, and Ah guess Ah have ya ta thank fo' startin' ta let meh see that Ah needed ta let go o' some of mah demons. Besides, when ya weren't bein' obnoxious, ya were decent company," she added.

"Y' welcome and I'm not obnoxious, jus' overly witty," defended Remy with a mock look of insult on his face, "How can y' t'hink o' me as bein' obnoxious?"

"Well, sugah, hate ta tell ya this, but listen ta tha words that just spilled outta ya mouth. Plus ya obiviouslah trahyin' ta offend, what, wit' ya piercin's," she countered.

"Aww, but ya love de wit, don't y' chere? An' what be wrong wit' me piercin's?" ashed Remy.

"Ah love ya 'wit'," she air quoted, "about as much as Ah love ta get 4 am Danger Room sessions wit' Logan. An' since when did ya have piercin's?" she finished curiously.

"Ya mus' really love de physical exertion, doncha, chere," returned Remy, "An as fer m' piercin's, I've had dem fer a couple years, now, but I had t' take 'em out an' put dem back on at night, because Magneto was threatenin' t' remove dem wit' his magnetism from m' body."

"What a shame he didn't," Rogue deadpanned, "And ya don't seem lahke tha type ta follow his orders anyway."

"Y' wound m', Rogue," he said, giving her his sad puppy dog look, that looked very humorous because of his glowing garnet orbs, that made her smile, "If y' don' believe m' ask de professeur, he met m' before y' an' I had dem in back den, or even Piotr or John fer dat matter."

"Oh, Ah'll take them up on that," she glared at him menacingly.

"Y' could scare de devil himself wit' dat look, chere," he said.

"Ooh, ya totallah shakin' in ya boots ain't ya, Swamp Rat?" mocked Rogue.

"Are y' callin' m' de devil?" asked Remy amusedly.

"Maybe. What if Ah am?" asked Rogue, "Ya shure act lahke it."

"I do not," said Remy, "I walk de thin line of bein' completely devilish an' dashin'"

"Well, ya definitely mo' on tha devilish sahde fo' shure, Cajun," pointed out Rogue.

"Don't I know it, chere," stated Gambit.

"Ya are so full of yourself. Ah take back what Ah said about ya bein' decent company," returned Rogue.

"I know ya love m', chere," he joked with a wide grin.

"About as much as Ah love havin m' eyes gouged out wit' a knife, Swamp Rat," she said.

"Y' must have a high pain tolerance den," said Remy with mock sweetness.

"Ah've had just about as much as Ah can handle from ya," she sighed, "Ya can be like two different people, ya know that, Swamp Rat?"

"Remy knows," he said, "so which one appeals t' y' more, hmm, chere?" He moved dangerously closer to her.

"Ya are so frustratin'," she yelled, getting more annoyed by him by the moment. He had been like this in New Orleans too, he could be serious and sincere one second and then become a wise cracker and maddening to be around the next. It intrigued her; this aspect of he persona, which was the real him the flirt or the insightful observant, he could be sometimes.

"Ah was kinda wonderin' though," she started, calming her frustrations, "how come when Ah absorbed ya on tha bayou, Ah didn't find out that ya were workin' fer Xavier all along, and whah did ya kidnap meh when ya knew that ya could probably get Logan and Xavier ta help ya?"

"Well, I found out about two days before I kidnapped y' dat m' pere was captured an' at de time, I couldn't contact Xavier, plus I didn't wan' t' involve him in de Guild again, because de Guild was as weary about that as it was. I didn't wanna waste time, ei'her, an' m' bro'her was away in England at de time and couldn't get back in time t' do anyt'ing. Plus, de Assassins woul' not be expectin' a rescue from yours truly, so it all worked out. An' I guess I was worried 'bout m' pere bein' killed by de Assassins despite it all."

"Oh yeah, ya couldn't absorb m' memories about workin' fer Xavier because he put a strong mental block around it so dat telepaths, Magneto and even y' wouldn't be able t' find out about m' actually workin' fer him. He gave one t' everyone who was involved in de plot."

"We shoulda all expected somethin' like that outta you, it seems so obvious now, and Ah shoulda thought about how ya could actually be workin' fo' Xavier, because ya nevah seemed lahke tha type ta believe a word of Magneto's crusade," she said of him.

"Jus' proves how good I am at what I do, chere," summerized Gambit.

Before Rogue could even come up with a clever rebuttal, Ray interrupted.

"Hey, guys, the dinner's ready now, we're all gathering, so you'd better head down now, before Kurt eats all the food," said Ray as he passed them on his route to bring down the others to dinner, effectively ending their war of words, in all of his Mohawked glory.

"We'll be down dere, homme," said Remy as Ray went around the corner to get the stragglers.

"Let's get goin' then," said Rogue as she led him down the corridor to the main stairs for them to go down to the main level and the dining room.

* * *

When they entered the elaborate dining room, together, they could see that most of the students were already congregated at the table and in their seats. The only ones missing were Tabitha, Rahne, Ray, Roberto and Alex. The luxurious room made the casually dressed people in it look very out of place, not to mention that there were two blue people in their midst. 

Remy and Rogue took seats that had been saved for them near Kitty, Kurt, John and Piotr. Kitty sat in between Kurt and Colossus and John sat across from Colossus with two empty seats beside him. Rogue sat beside the pyromaniac across from Kitty and Remy sat beside her as the remaining students entered the dining room, where Jean, Storm, Scott, and Jubilee were currently bringing out the prepared dishes and Bobby had just finished setting the table. The three friends and newbies at the mansion sat near the end of the table. Warren, Betsy, Rahne and Amara sat at the very end of the long table.

"Hey mates, good ta see ya 'gain," greeted John.

"Da, it is," agreed Piotr.

"So, how are you guys adjusting?" asked Kitty politely.

"Well, this place, is definatelah bettah than back at Magsy's places," said St. John. Remy and Piotr nodded in agreement, "in more ways than one, Sheila."

"It's much larger, yet more comfortable and inviting," elaborated Colossus.

"I couldn't believe how big it vas here vhen I first got here from Germany," said Kurt.

"I think everybody experiences that, Kurt," said Rogue.

"Yeah," agreed Kit, "Since when did you have piercings Remy?" asked Kitty confused as she noticed them. She obviously remembered that he didn't have any when he had first entered the house.

John and Piotr chucked.

"He had ta take 'em out, love, when Magneto threatened ta 'relieve them from his head with his powahs'," answered John for Remy who was now looking at Rogue victoriously who was giving him her patented 'Death Glare of Doom'.

"Zhen how com you still have zhem in?" asked Kurt curiously.

"He put zhem back in at night vhen Magneto didn't notice, because he didn't want ze hole to grow in," finished Piotr, "It vas quite amusing, comrade," said Piotr to John and the two exchanged a quick memory between the two of them. It was when Remy would wait until it was dark to sneak up and put on his rings and then discarding them and hiding them in the morning as if they were more precious than rare jewels.

Remy was about to launch into a verbal challenge with the two of them, when the professor beat him to speak and started to address the inhabitants of the mansion, when all the students were seated and settled.

"As you all know," began Professor Charles Xavier, "today, we gained three valuable members to our expanding team, and it warms my heart to see my students embrace who they had thought to be their enemies and be so understanding of their plights and personal hardships. You have shown your maturity today, my X-Men and for that I am proud. You have not judged them or held a grudge and it pleases me to see it, that I have taught you well. It is now that I know you are truly the individuals that I want to show the world that my dream is possible."

"However, I know we stand at a crossroads where the future of this dream seems to be nonexistent, but I know that we as a group, a team, a family can persevere and make it through this hardship. People try to eliminate us out of ignorance and inacceptance to who we are, but I know that you are better than to use violence to those who despise you, I know that you are very much the role models that I see you all to be and that I have taught you well and you see that by using violence, you cannot teach those to accept you for who you are."

"I know that you will not succumb to the darkness and fear that fills your hearts, because if all we have is a belief for peace, goodness and a bright future, it will do more than the pessimism towards the future and bring us hope that we will not bow down to the shadows that challenge us. No, we will outshine it with our pure strength of will and overcome it, with pride, courage and dignity."

"With this I know that we can forge ahead to new beginnings, to new strength, because I see that with you, we can see through these times when we are tried, and come out stronger and more enlightened. And our new friends are part of that new beginning and it starts now, with all the goodness and purity that fills our hearts and will bind us together to whatever may come, good or bad," he finished and began to raise his glass filled with a special punch that the Beast always made and was a favourite of all the inhabitants of the X-Mansion. All those seated at his table raised their glasses for his toast.

"To new beginnings and a bright future," he said with his raised glass.

"To new beginnings," rang out the rest of the mutants in unision.

* * *

So many unspoken words between them, but not attraction, no not yet. It was the acknowledgment that they could sense the torment inside of their very souls of existence. It was an understanding of each other and their agonies of life. They could see behind each other's walls and facades, see the reality under the mask, but without knowing why. They just knew that they understood each other in a way no one else could. They'd been down similar paths, more so than any other person they knew. It wasn't friendship either, it was understanding. An understanding that would lead to something more, much more.

* * *

I hereby promise to never ever torture you guys with such a long chapter and will update more frequently. It was just the longness of this chapter that delayed my posting it. I wanted to include all that I had promised in the last chappie. Plus, if you remember from Chapter 2, Remy wanted to apologize for NO and Rogue wanted to thank him, thus their missions. Symbolism. I also had a lot of insight I wanted to put in, like that stuff with the virus, I worked in and why Remy may have seemed a little out of character in revealing his story to the X-Men so quickly. 

Next chapter will be much shorter and quicker, I hope. It will feature cameos from some of my favourite characters from fanfiction. I won't be able to write it for awhile due to midterms coming up, but I do have it planned out. Look for it in maybe two to three weeks or maybe even sooner.

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER FIVE: THICKEN**

I hope you enjoy this chapter and won't kill me for the length, (79 word pages, including all this at the beginning and end, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, but it's like four updates at the same time) but anyway, **REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW**. That is all I ask of you, PLEASE! I really wanna know what you think. Do you like it? Tell me what you guys like and what you don't, k? I'd really like to know that. It would also help a lot as to my writing to see what you guys wanna hear about tham next.

I'm not going to drop any hints as to what happens next, but there will definitely be some more Romy fun and more unexpected revelations.

I also hope you liked my interpretations on John's and Piotr's pasts. Some of John's past came from his obvious longing to have a decent family in X2, when he sees Bobby's family portrait at his house. It showed he had a rough past and I definitely think he'd have a hard one. I really decided to milk the tragedy cow on that one. And Piotr's was based on what happened in the comics. I assumed that Russia would be less accepting to mutants from what I read, I think, in a story by takimiromy. Hope ya like that. I also took some liberties with Remy's past in the last chapter and this one with Genevieve and the Guild thing. I just couldn't do Jean-Luc being a cold man to his son all of a sudden, when it's obvious he's not truly like that, there had to be a reason, and I decided to blame Candra and the tithe. I really like it when Jean-Luc is a good caring father, like in Black Queen's From the Shadows, one of my fave fics, and I suggest you read it, if you haven't.

_**REVIEW FOR ME, PLEASE!**_

simba317


	5. Thicken

**Disclaimer: **I don't own X-Men Evolution or ever will, so don't sue me, because I can't pay you if you do. Plus why do you think the site is called Like, duh, it's our interpretation of the events that goes on in the Evo-verse and/ or characters.

**Author's Notes: **Well, by the time I post this it will be mid-April. I'm sorry for taking so long to update, it's just that I have midterms and finals all this past couple of weeks that require studying. I'm basically just writing whenever I truly can, which isn't a lot. And for once, I'm all ranted out. I think I got out all my anger on the Marvel and what they do to the characters or whatever.

I'm real sorry that I didn't get this posted sooner, it's just well, I have had midterms and finals in April. But anyway, I had this whole chapter outlined, but it was just finding time to write it out that caused the little delay. I just was putting off writing it, but here it is now. Don't get mad.

**Could you guys please REVIEW my chapter for me? It means so much when you do and I enjoy posting responses to each individual reviewer in my next update so please push that blue-purple button at the bottom and REVIEW. I know I promised you guys some cameos, but I'm saving that for the next chapter now, because this chap's run a little long…and well trying to appease everything I promised back in March is getting hard. I guess shortening up the chaps a bit will help to churn them out a little faster. So here goes.**

**Oh yeah, and for all the Romy fans, more Romyness. Bantering will be up in this chapter as is the beginnings of a beautiful friendship that will eventually blossom into something more with angst filled drama, just because Romy is not Romy without the angst. I just won't do anything Antarctic or bring in the Guilds or Sinister to break them up. They can do that well enough on their own, what with the emotional hurricanes of their very existences and the fact that they are just angsty people. I just can't stand it when outer forces break them apart, because they are just so fantastical and abrupt. I just can't stand Sinister and Belle and they get into stereotypes and then everyone hates their characters for doing that to the Romy. They have to do it themselves to strengthen their relationship. I sometimes admit to liking Belle in certain stories when she's occasionally a nice character. However, I'll just never like Sinister. Besides, I trying to break the Romy mode of intrigue, banter, friendship, something more, Guild angst, depression, build up, banter, love, Sinister angst, depression, banter, love and finally if it gets that far, marriage and all that good fluff. But not breaking it by much, though. **

However, I still despise Sinister with the fiery fury and passion of a million trillion blazing and burning suns. I've really expanded on that sentence, since Ish wrote it in a review. I can't stand him pulling the Romy apart. I also hate that there will be some chick trying to split the Romy in X-Men 171 or somewhere around there. If they break up, I'll seriously be infuriated and hit the guy who thought up that bit of plot bunny.

Oh, yeah and if I read another fic where Jean is like perfectly snobby bitch and Rogue's arch nemesis, I think I'll punch someone. Honestly, like my analogy in the previous chapters, they are like sisters, sure they argue, but they love each other and can set aside differences for the sake of family. They are in no way portrayed like that in the cartoon. I know as an author you can have creative license and do whatever you want, but I just don't like fics where Rogue gets to beat up Jean for being a bitch, it's really amusing and I love watching the red head fall by Rogue's hands, but it's not an accurate portrayal of the characters. Jean is a kind caring person and probably just wants what's best for Rogue, even though Rogue doesn't want her pity or help. Rogue basically just kinda doesn't like Jean because of her thing for Scott and the fact that well, she's kinda perfect, but she doesn't hate her, there's a big difference.

And why are people torturing me with pairings I don't like, for example Kietro, Rietro, Xietro (lukewarm on it, more on dislike side), Tabbietro (same as before), Rogan (it's the whole student/teacher thing and the fact that they are like FATHER and DAUGHTER), Kimy (how dare you split the Romy), Ryro (don't really mind it, but still, not Romy), and just some others like Roberto and Rahne, I just don't see them as a couple. I don't particularly like Slash fics that have no point at all. I only like them if they're done in an interesting way and not the main focus of the story, like in Agent-G's Hellfire and Brimestone. Lancitty annoys me, because the relationship never worked for me in Evo. Scitty is kinda weird. AleX-23 and Jean and Logan together are okay for me. Strangely enough, I like all the main Wanda, Kurt and John pairings. The couples I do enthusiastically support, despite favoritism and bashing to some include the ROMY, Kiotr, Wandurt, Johnda, Kurrty, Jott (they are just too perfect together to separate), Kurmanda, Sage and Bishop, Rolo, Mystique and Logan (sometimes), Anlocke and that's about it.

Oh, and on the subject of Evan, I don't like him at all on Evo, like if you're gonna make an OC, make him actually good. But anyway, he's in this fic, because I'm a nice person and just can't bash people too much. I think bashing really takes away from a fic and the message you're trying to convey, unless it's done in a humorous way, and all the characters get their fair share of it.

Could it be? I'm all ranted out. I must be the getting out of all my frustrations on this stuff in my reviews and my super long rant chapter of the previous. Oh, and this chappie is no way as long as my other one and will once again feature the Romyness and just what exactly is going on at the mansion. Plus, we'll have some surprise guests dropping in. Oh, and some Pyro induced mayhem and craziness.

**Shout Outs: **I got so exited that people actually sent me reviews. So thanks you guys. It really means so much to me.

**Ishandahalf: **Apologies for my lack of bunny on crackedness. Thanks Ish, for reviewing again. You're my only consistent reviewer. Aw well. I quite enjoyed reading your reviews and I'm glad you enjoyed my ranting. It was good to share my thoughts and get them off my shoulders. I'm glad you found the whole mission Ocean's 11ish and I definitely had to make the boys just that good didn't I? I mean, Remy is on the team. He's from the Thieves Guild, he's just gotta be that good, c'mon. Yes, and I just don't like writing the boys into an animosity-filled environment. I like stories where they are all harmonious and one big happy family. So the X-Men are to be friendly to them. Why you say? Because the X-Men known their troubled pasts and the fact that they had to work for Magsy. Also, I plan on flushing out the Pyro insanity for kicks. I love Pyro insanity.

Oh and the banter will definitely be continuing on and the friendship is blooming, yes friendship. Angst will come later, but there shall be angst. The Romy is moving right along now, but I'll definitely have something of a something more going with them by the end of the virus arc I'm writing. It shall be a long arc, but I'm planning to write a sort of series with the stuff I've written thus far, plus I have a lot of other ficcies planned. I'll probably end up writing those during the summer.

Of course, I'm milking their emotional baggage for all it's worth because it's just so interesting and at some point Rogue will confess to Remy her own troubled past. Oh, and street life was definitely no cake walk for Remy, so I'll go into that a bit later in the fic. I'm most definitely looking forward to exploiting their angst potential, so unfortunately, it will be an emotional roller-coaster, but what's a good Romy without it? So it'll stay. But I hate it and often cry when they are apart and being angsty.

Ooohhh, and I so love that you see me as your brain mate, and it's sorta uncanny that we think so much alike and I'm so honored that you see me that way, because well, I'm a really huge fan of yours and it really makes me happy that'd you'd think that…wow, totally gushing, but yeah…

Anyway, here comes a new chapter and happy reading.

**Bored247: **Thanks for the compliment and keep reviewing for me please. It pleased me a lot to read your review. And due to the fact that my brain was hurting trying to word pro all of the last chappie, this one will be significantly shorter.

**Enchantedlight: **Thanks for reviewing again.

**Guild: **Thanks for the review. I'm glad someone else enjoys my ranting and actually agrees with it. What can I say, I just have to get it out of my system and ranting about it makes me feel so much better about it. Well, here's your next helping of my story.

**Nettlez: **I'm glad that you love my story and don't mind the length. I must say though, this next update will be shorter. I'm also glad that you like my spin on the characters and especially the Romy. More Romy will be coming though, so get ready for it. And I definitely will not be writing something completely lovey-dovey with the Romy, maybe in a one-shot though…

Here we go, prepare yourselves for just another day at the mansion. Of course, when is it ever just another day…?

Tell me if you think Rogue is too OOC and why, k?

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE: THICKEN**

* * *

Ah, yes, it was just another cold January morning at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children in Westchester, New York. Of course, high security measures and new members were a constant here and what truly was considered as normal in the mansion. Its inhabitants were preparing for another day of the waning school or university break due to a new semester starting up and many had yet to awaken and would soon be stumbling down the stairs at around 11 o' clock for breakfast.

Rogue rose to the sound of her roommate and good friend, Kitty Pryde, taking a shower in the bathroom adjoined to the spacious room in which they shared. The entire room had been painted in dark violet, rich purple and pale lavender that went well with the dark wood that framed the walls, windows and French doors that led out to their luxurious marble balcony. The purples on the walls were all swirled into different patterns in their room and gave it the Gothic, yet girly look that dictated the tastes of both Kitty and Rogue. There were silver and gold stars and a moon painted on the wall. There was also writing on the walls in pale blue and black. Curtains currently blocked the bright late morning rays from the windows and French doors and were a grayish green with pale pink trim. She decided to wait for her turn in the bathroom and decided against going into the adjoining closet across from the bathroom to look through the clothes that they owned that needed to be hanged like jackets, dresses, and other fancier clothes. It also held their shoes and winter clothes like scarves, gloves, mitts and hats. And because it needed to hold all of this, it was fairly large. Two ornate full length mirrors were on either side of the room.

At first, after the mansion had been destroyed and rebuilt, all thought that Kitty and Rogue's room would look like a clash of tastes and power, but they had compromised and worked together to turn their room into a masterpiece that was simply magnificent and adhered to both girls' tastes. Thick pale blue carpeting laid into the floor, slightly covered by a blue, gold, red and purple rug, caught Rogue's feet as she steeped out of bed. Her side of the room was covered with some posters of her favorite bands and movies. She also had some of her unique artwork up as well. Her Queen sized bed was covered with a pale, jade green comforter, with embroidered forest green leaves. The rest of her sheets were either green or purple with black pillows that had the same leaf design embroidered into them in silver as well. A medium sized stuffed dog, along with a stuffed lion was also on the bed. The bed's headboard and footboard were black wood with deep brown wood that were simple, yet elegant. At the end of the bed, beside the footboard lay a large decorative chest that was good for both storing things and sitting on. Kitty had one as well, but it was designed differently. On her two dark wooden nightstands was a deep cerulean blue ceramic reading lamp with a thick book resting beneath it on the right one and a digital clock, more books and other decorative knick knacks on the left. Inside the draw to the nightstand were her journal and other knick knacks. A rather large bookshelf was positioned beside her bed to the right, against the wall that separated the main room from the adjoined bathroom. (All in the mansion had been beyond happy, when the professor said that he would be building separate bathrooms in each room for all the students along with two extra full bathrooms in each 'dorm area.') In the bookshelf stood many of her favorite books, framed pictures of her friends and family within the mansion, along with many decorative touches, like figurines made of glass, ceramic or crystal.

Rogue made her way over to her dresser on her side of the room, which was closest to the door to the hallway. The large dark wooden dresser held her clothes and was identical to the one Kitty had about five meters away on her side. A vanity with a mirror held their makeup and jewelry, and was placed between the two dressers of clothes. On the dresser of Rogue's side, were more pictures and figurines, along with a few stuffed animals that had increased over the years. Her boom box and CDs were also here. Rogue stepped to the dresser, while rubbing the bits of sleep out of her eyes and reached for her brush that rested on the dresser and started to brush her dark auburn hair with the thick white streak in the front and much thinner dyed black streaks currently blazing through it and stopped just below her shoulders in sweepy layers. She had been wearing a pair of deep blue pajama pants with silver moons and stars with cartoony looking sleeping dogs. Her pajama top was dark purple with a blown up version of the dog, a moon and stars in the background on the front. Several stars were printed on the sleeves and got smaller as it went in a line down to her hands.

Upon completing her task of brushing her hair, she took her black velvet gloves from the dresser and put them on as well and proceeded to sit at her chair in her desk beside her bookshelf and wait for Kitty to be done with her time in the bathroom. Her desk too was made of dark wood and had a computer on it, along with pictures, knick knacks, her homework and decorations. The desk held her supplies for school and had a surprisingly large amount of storage space. The chair was leather and comfy, just like all other things in the mansion. Separating her side of the room from Kitty's was a comfy deep magenta and purple swirled love seat with a silver wrought iron glass and steal coffee table that held various books and magazines scattered on top. She grabbed her discman and started to blare the music of Our Lady Peace in her ears in the crisp golden light of the late morning.

Kitty's side was decorated in much of the same way as Rogue in terms of furniture, but had been definitely stylized to her tastes. There were butterflies, ladybugs, dragonflies, and flowers. She had posters of all her favorite celebrities, as well as animals and other interesting things. Her bed spread was different shades of blue and had an oceanic paradise on it. Her desk, dresser, tables and shelves were much like Rogues, filled with figurines, and pictures of her friends and family, except hers were done to more of her style. Her headboard was done with a dark wood that was framed with a pale wood that contrasted highly with the dark and gave it a sharp look.

At the end of the room, were the large window and French doors that led to the balcony with those specially made curtains and underneath the sprawling windows beside the doors, were padded bench seats with cushions, like in all bedrooms in the mansion, which allowed you to sit near the outdoors and curl up to a thick book. It was truly a grand room, like all those in the mansion and on the door that led out to the main hall on self-decorated plaques was the names Kitty and Rogue, like all the other doors in the dorm areas. Each plaque was handmade and had personal touches that showed off the individuality of the person behind it, like Rogue's artistic style with a Gothic touch to Kitty's brightly colored one with multicolored cute insects and animals with flowers.

As Rogue finished listening to the fifth track of her CD, Kitty emerged from her shower and wash feeling clean and refreshed, having also brushed her teeth and hair.

"Mornin' Rogue," greeted Kitty happily. She only ever did on weekends when she had enough sleep and was not walking like a zombie for the fist forty five minutes of a new day. Kitty wore a pair of comfortable and stylish black sweat pants, with a grey hooded sweatshirt with a blue screened design on the front, for no one in the mansion got fully dressed on Saturdays until well past lunch. Everyone just sort of lounged in their pajamas on the weekends.

"Mornin' Kit," replied Rogue as she put away her discman and trudged to the bathroom to get her morning routine started. She didn't shower, since she had done so before sleeping the night before and instead stuck to brushing her teeth and washing her face. When she was done, she neglected putting on her usual makeup as there would be no point on a lounging day, although she would probably eventually put it on in the afternoon, when the lounging was over.

When Rogue was done, she put a black hoodie with red writing over her PJs and using her hands, raked her even more multi-tonal hair into a loose ponytail with the ends flipped everywhere on the back of her head.

"So what'd ya think of last night?" asked Kitty as she took out a blow-dryer from the shared vanity and began blow-drying her short damp hair.

"It was most certahnly interestin'," replied Rogue.

"Yeah it really was, what with the boys joining like that. I mean I really didn't expect them to enter the mansion like that and just well like, reveal that Gambit was really an X-Man all along," Kitty mused.

"Me neither, Kit," responded the Gothic teen, "It was real surprisin' an' Ah guess it's about tahme that we finahly had somethin' other than school an' riotin' tah deal with, unfortunately."

"Hmm, so what d'ya think of the boys?" asked Kitty, "I mean Piotr seems like the sweet and quiet one of the group, John's most definitely the crazy one, and Remy, is just, well, 'WOW', he is definitely the charmer."

"No kidding, he's lahke a magnet for all girls. He didn't even need tah beat an eyelash foh all tha girls tah be all ovah him! Tabbs, 'Mara, Jubes and Rahne totally made fools of themselves aftah dinnah with the whole 'flirtin' incident. What with tha whole, fawning all ovah him. And tha best part was when John and Piotr were lahke, 'Great, even more girls join the fan club, more hearts to pick up, once Remy is through with them.' He's lahke a total playah," summarized Rogue.

"Yeah… but still Rogue, he's a decent guy, like ya said before, after the whole New Orleans thing. He's just a ladies' man, ya know?" Kitty said diplomatically. She had noticed that they had seemed pretty cozy after dinner when she, Kurt and Rogue had been talking to the boys and getting to know them better. They had been proclaimed the unofficial liaison from the X-Men to the boys as they were starting to get settled.

Sure, they had argued and bantered the entire time, but Rogue just seemed so much more comfortable with him than she had seen around anyone and even after all this time, she was nowhere near as comfortable with Gambit as she was with many of the newer recruits. She had gotten more comfortable with Gambit in perhaps the few days she had known him in New Orleans than she had been to Kitty or Kurt in the first few weeks and months they had known each other. Gambit had a relationship with Rogue or the start of one which took Kurt, Logan and Kitty months to build on and others like Scott, Jean, Ororo, Professor Xavier and Evan were still building on and the new recruits were an entirely different matter too.

"Maybah, but don't think foh one second that he's not the love 'em and leave 'em type, because he is, and you know that I, of all people would know that about him," said Rogue, "He's gone through more women than any of us can count."

"C'mon, Rogue, admit it, you think he's hot! He's absolutely gorgeous for Pete's sake!" exclaimed the petite and perky brunette.

"Well, of course he's gorgeous, but it doesn't mean Ah have tah be all ovah him foh cryin' out loud! And Ah know him Kit, he'd nevah be interested in a girl lahke me. He's a physical person and Ah can nevah give it him or anyone foh that matter," debated the southern Goth.

"I think you're not really giving the guy a chance, here, I mean, he's definitely nice, but he's just got this overly active attractiveness to women that he exploits," started Kitty as Rogue started to give her a disbelieving look.

"Alright, so he's no saint, but, he's still a half decent guy when he's not flirting with the entire female species on the planet," she finished upon remembering that Remy had in fact, kissed both their hands after he had 'escorted' the two of them to their rooms for the night, after Logan had kicked all the X-Men out of the Rec Room to go to sleep. Kitty had blushed profusely as had every other girl who had experienced the Gambit, except Rogue who just smiled disbelievingly, while rolling her eyes, just like Ororo. They were perhaps the only two women in the mansion immune to his charm, even Jean was trying her best not to get flustered in his presence.

"True, but he still has tah work on not coming off as a total skirt chasah," summarized Rogue.

"Yeah, agreed Kitty, "But John and Piotr are definitely nothing like Remy at all. I was sorta surprised that Piotr is such good friends with him because they seem like they would never get along."

"Well, Remy's definahtely everything people think and don't think," Rogue thought out loud, "He's creative, smart, cunning and determined, though you'd nevah think that from just meeting him. Sometimes, it's lahke he's two different people. There's definahtely more to him than meets tha eye," she said.

"And all this you learned from just New Orleans. What did ya do down there, girl. Would you care to like, share?" Kitty asked as her mouth curved into a conspirator grin.

"Not reallah, ya know mah policy on giving out information that Ah got from mah pshyches. Besides, nothing happened. We just talked about everything we had in common, more or less," teased Rogue tantalizingly.

"Well, that's just too bad," Kitty wrinkled her nose slightly in disappointment, "But how it that you didn't know that he was one of us all along."

"Who says that Ah didn't," teased Rogue again as Kitty gave her a 'oh, c'mon, stop fooling with me,' look.

"Alraht, alraht," started Rogue, "Ah didn't know, because he put up mental shields that were impenetrable from mah absorption on all tha things concernin' Xavier that most psychics wouldn't have been able to sense or even scratch 'cause of his empathy and the Prof. helping him out."

"He's also an empath, right?" asked Kitty.

Rogue nodded and Kitty continued, "It must be an advantage to always know what the people in front of you are feeling. It's more helpful than telepathy, because people can't block their true emotions from him."

"Are ya insinuating somethin', Kitty?" asked Rogue, annoyed.

"Maybe," responded Kitty, "But from what I see from him, it seems that he wouldn't use his empathy on you to turn the tables in his favor unless he really needed to."

"Yeah…" responded Rogue carefully.

"It just seems so perfect, ya know? Both of you can kinda see each other exactly for who you are, past everything that sits between you and everyone else. You see the complete picture of the person, where others will only ever see the half truths," finished Kitty. (Isn't Kitty perceptive?)

"That may be true Kit, but ya gotta know that well, we aren't even what Ah'd call friends. We shure as hell don't have any sort of relationship at all. We argue more than we talk, usually. I don't even know 'him' all that much, just a shadow of who he is. 'Sahdes, there's a lot of stuff that really doesn't work foh us at all. We're lahke complete opposites, Kitty, and it's nevah work gonna work out lahke ya want tah, because, well the obvious, 'Ah cahn't touch thing,' not tah mention he's lahke a total playboy and he's not interested in meh. He's just some badass that flirts up tha girls to put up more conquests in his scorebook, trust meh, Ah know. And Ah just don't lahke him 'that' way Kit. Hell, Ah have trouble lahking him raht now in a friendly sorta way. Ah'm just reallah not interested in him, ya know?" Rogue pleaded her case.

"I just don't think that you should, like write you and him off like that, Rogue. You really understand each other in a way that no one else does, whether or not you see it. You could be really happy Rogue," said Kitty.

"Ah am happy, Kitty," said Rogue, "Ah have all you guys as mah friends."

"Are you, really, Rogue?" questioned Kitty, "because every now and then, I see you looking at the others, like Scott and Jean, and Logan and Ororo, practically every couple here, and you get this sad look in your eyes, quick as it may come and go, but it's there, Rogue, it's there. I know that you feel the pain and longing of not having what they have and not being able to touch anybody."

"Since when did ya get so insightful, Kitty?" asked Rogue, "Ah guess it hurts, a lot, but ya know what, Ah kinda accepted that a long tahme ago. Ah'd rather be alone than hurt the people Ah care about."

"Still, Rogue, you deserve to find someone, just like everyone else," rebutted Kitty, "And maybe that person will be Remy, maybe it won't. But you still should have someone special."

"Maybah, Kit, someday, but for now, it's just lahke me and this…" trailed off Rogue, "It's naht lahke Ah'm tha only one with ya so called 'boy troubles.' Ah know ya still healing the wounds from Lance."

"They never really were wounds, Rogue, just a slight pain in the heart that passed awhile back, when I realized that we were good together, just not great and not meant to be," said Kitty to Rogue, "I cared about him and he cared about me, but we just drifted apart and things just got complicated. It got really hard to make it work and in the end, it just wasn't worth it anymore. We still cared about each other, still do, just not in that way, anymore. When we broke up, it hurt, Rogue, he was my first boyfriend, I think I may have loved him, but he wasn't the one. Besides, we're still trying to find out who we really are, and we're still evolving and Kitty and Lance just weren't meant to evolve together. We were one chapter in our lives that we'll always cherish, but in the end became better friends than lovers. It was great, once upon a time, but there were things he never understood about me, and things I never understood about him. Besides, he's free and I'm free. We're no longer unhappy, because our relationship just doesn't feel right anymore. I think I'm over him and just ready to move on. We just hit a plateau where we couldn't move forward in anymore. It was just time to go separate ways."

(I hope that all you Lancitty fans aren't too mad at me, but I didn't make Lance abusive or rude or anything. They just weren't right for each other in the end and drifted apart. They had some great times, but it was just the time to move on for them.)

Kitty and Lance had gotten back together after Apocalypse had been defeated and at first, their relationship seemed to be going wonderful, but then it eventually became apparent that their relationship just wasn't going anywhere and that they were drifting apart. They also realized that they seemed to work better as friends than as a couple and that the issues that had started their relationship were unresolved and they just had different values and although Lance had changed, they still had different opinions in most areas that really mattered, namely their team statuses and opinions on mutant affairs. And they just drifted apart after a while, no matter how hard they tried to hold on and make it work, it was a lost cause. They had broken up on friendly terms one chilly November night in front of the X-Mansion, after one last date. They had agreed to remain friends and still kept in contact. Their relationship had improved greatly upon the break up and the awkwardness was gone between them and they were able to move on as friends.

"You're worried about him," Rogue said, it was a statement, not a question, one both girls knew was true. All had known that the Brotherhood and Acolytes were now captured and that the Acolyte base was being attacked around the time they were all heading for bed. Logan who was monitoring the situations from the advanced cameras they had, had told all of the X-Men of the updates towards the attacks and everyone had felt so completely helpless as they were forced to stay behind and not help those who needed it due to the fact that if they had gone to protect them, they would have been captured as well.

"Yeah, Rogue," Kitty replied softly, "He's my friend and now, I just know that terrible things are gonna happen to him, all of them, and we're still all here safe and sound at the mansion. I just feel so helpless. I want to just do something, but can't or we risk one of us and the rest of the mutant population. It's this big no win situation and it really blows. It's no secret that they'll be doing mutant testing on them."

"I know Kit," responded Rogue, "Some of them are my friends too." She was referring to Wanda to whom she had become good friends with in school as the she now went to Bayville High to get her diploma and education she had been denied all her life due to her imprisonment. She had been going there accompanied by the rest of the Brotherhood, and despite the X-Men's past with the Brotherhood, this school year with them had been quiet in terms of the fights they had. Their fighting was now more of the occasional teenage verbal bust-ups more than anything and really didn't cause trouble anymore.

They had formed some sort of strange friendship with them somewhere along the way after the whole Apocalypse situation. Neither side had really battled it out for quite some time after Mystique had disappeared without a trace. No one knew where she went, not even Logan with his most excellent nose, or the great Charles Xavier with Cerebro. Magneto, despite the lessons learned from the Apocalypse incident decided it was time, now, more than ever, that he increases his efforts at mutant supremacy due to what he saw within Apocalypse's mind in the future whereas Xavier chose to redouble his efforts toward a future where humans and mutants could coexist.

"At least we know foh shore what we're dealin' with, thanks tah tha new guys," said Rogue.

"Yeah, we're not like complete sitting ducks," said Kitty, still worried for her friends in the Brotherhood, namely Wanda and Lance. She and Rogue had become good friends with both during the past years and months for Wanda due to Tabitha, who too, had befriended Wanda.

"This seems lahke a complete role reversal, but cheer up Kit, Ah mean, we've got some new guys tah help us with tha whole shebang," said Rogue.

"Very true," said Kitty, "and they're all super cute."

Rogue groaned and laughed, seeing as the usually perky Kitty Pryde was back with a vengeance.

"Now this wouldn't have anything tah do with a certain seven foot tall, dark and handsome Russian with a certain flare for tha arts, now would it?" Rogue asked teasingly having noticing Kitty eyeing him all night long after they had talked with the boys and got to know them with Kurt. So far, only Kurt, Kitty and Rogue had really gotten to know the boys. They had spent the night talking and laughing the entire time when they watched a movie in the Rec Room, trying to act normal, despite the current crisis, like they always did. They had been watching part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and had all been desperately trying to keep Pyro under control every time Sauron's flamed eye showed up.

After, when Logan had kicked them out to go to bed, they had gone to the boys' new room to break in the new room, by helping to further unpack and just chill out. The three had been shown some of Piotr's artwork that hung on the walls as well as his sketches in his sketch book. Kitty had been the one who was most enthusiastic and excited about his art and Rogue, of course had noticed.

"Maybe…" responded Kitty, "but they're all totally attractive," she defended, "even John, in a creepy, insane kinda way…but he is good looking and if you can get past the quirks, he's a pretty cool guy. I mean he's got that totally cute Australian accent and he seems like a real sweetie, if you could learn to control him…"

"He's got a few screws loose, foh shore," thought Rogue, "but he seems more of what ya'd call an eccentric," she continued putting it mildly, "Ah mean he writes amazingly so it's naht lahke he's completely without a paddle."

"Yeah, he really does. I'd totally buy his books he got published," continued Kitty, "and he seems totally fun to be around. There's surely never a dull moment with him," she mused.

"That's foh shore," she started, "and Kit?" she continued, starting her revenge after Kitty put her on the spot with the cocky Cajun charmer.

"Hmm?" asked Kitty meekly.

"Don't change the subject," she said referring to the neutral topic she started with the pyromaniac.

Kitty groaned and put her head in her hands, "Tell me that I at least wasn't like being too obvious."

"You totally were," responded Rogue, "Meh and Kurt had a hard tahme keepin' straight faces, but don't worry, Ah doubt he noticed, and he's just too shy tah really notice himself being hit on." Rogue continued her teasing as Kitty turned a faint shade of pink.

"You mean that was why you and Kurt kept on shooting those looks at each other, like there was some secret going on?" asked Kitty as she had an epiphany.

"Yup," said Rogue bluntly.

"Damn," moaned Kitty, "if Kurt noticed, then well, I'm doomed," she said dramatically.

Rogue chuckled and said, "Well, Ah'm sure he'll just think that ya'll are real …perky…" Kitty just glared at her, which just caused Rogue to laugh harder as a glare on Kitty just looked odd.

"Right…"replied Kitty, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, he's much better for you than Lance, Kitty. He's nicer, and definahtely more considerate and ya could probably have some more decent conversations," said Rogue.

"Yeah, I think so too, Rogue," said Kitty, before adding, "and I think I'm ready to see other people now, after Lance."

"Sometahmes, it's lahke Ah live vicariously through ya experiences," said Rogue humorously, "what with you always telling meh practically everything about Lance. Ah sometimes feel lahke Ah was datin' him.

Kitty laughed, "I still remember that time when you got so angry at him because I had told you that he did a whole bunch of stupid stuff when he took me to 'Lasertag'. I mean it was like a glorified version of the Danger Room with guns. I totally did not enjoy it. It was like spending another afternoon in the DR when I had just got out with bruises."

"Ah remember, he was really confused," laughed Rogue.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

They both got up from where they had been talking on Rogue's bed and walked toward the door to answer it and was met by a cheery looking Kurt dressed in his favorite white T-shirt with Rammstein printed across it and a pair of stripped navy and maroon pajama bottoms in his true form, tail swishing slightly.

"Morning, Keety, Rogue," he started, "breakfast's about ready, you coming?"

"Yeah, lead the way," said Kitty as she and Rogue followed Kurt out and headed to the breakfast nook where everyone was congregating for an impromptu breakfast.

* * *

"'Ey, Johnny Boy, y' up?" asked Remy as he and Piotr stood over the seemingly dead looking Aussie.

"Johnny, wake up, homme," demanded Remy as he began to shake the boy, eliciting a slight groan.

"No, no, mom, don't put the marshmallow on tha 'gatah, it goes with tha lava lamp…" slurred John incoherently.

"Let me try somethink, comrade," said Piotr as he began to pull the blankets away from John only to have the boy mummy wrap them around his body and say that he wouldn't let the bloody Yanks take his precious 'Foyre Rock o' Doom'.

Remy and Piotr both shook their heads and decided that desperate times called for desperate measures…

* * *

_The sky was blue… and the world was made of a sea of hot chocolate which bust into flames every few seconds. Lava lamps were erected in lines that stretched as far as the eye could see and seemed to touch the sky. Strange red light was cast onto the hot chocolate in which John was paddling through on a large raft made of jujubes a alligator swam in the hot chocolate as his guide and marshmallows were thrown on the lava lamps like the bread crumbs in Hansel and Gretel, as his mother kept telling him to go to the 'Rhine Land of Shine' His 'Foyre Rock of Doom' hung around his neck and was his only source of flame in a cruel cruel world. He was just about to make it to the Volcano of molten cinnamon hearts when a tsunami rose and hit him full force with the strength that only a wave like that could emit. His raft capsized and he was face to face with a pair of 'Evil Water Gods' that looked suspiciously like his friends Rems and Petey…_

_Rems and Petey…_

_Oh shit. _

* * *

"Uh…Mornin' mates?" said St. John as he sat up in bed, his normally spiked hair hanging limp on his face due to the glass of water the boys had cruelly dumped on his face to wake him up. It was the only thing that did. Flames tended to make him start having horny fantasies about women…but that's beyond the point, and of course, Remy and Piotr had to learn the hard way…They suspected that the reason that only flames worked was because it was the complete opposite of his precious flames.

"Good to see you finally up, comrade," said Piotr slowly.

"Anot'er dream, homme?" asked Remy.

"Uh, yeah…" replied the drenched Australian. He was wearing a large bright orange T-shirt with the words, 'It's not hot, 'til it's on fire,' on the front and a pair of black flannel pajama bottoms with mini-flames all over it. He reached to his night table and pulled on the hoodie he had left there. It was black and had Quicksilver in red on the front. (the skateboard clothing brand, not Pietro)

"Well, we're havin' breakfast soon, so y' better get ready," advised Remy.

"Royt," said the soaked Aussie as he got up and began to head to the bathroom as Remy cranked the stereo in the room.

"So how'd ya guys loyke this place so far?" asked John over the loud guitar solo.

"It's very large," stated Piotr simply.

"Oh, c'mon, mate, it's goyt loyke everythin'. Xavier's loyke loaded. Plus, tha girls are definitely an improvement," replied John.

"Y' got y' eye on someone already, John?" questioned Remy amusedly as he pulled on a deep blood red zip up hoodie over his black T-shirt. He also wore a pair of black pajama bottoms with red spades on it.

"Nah, noyt reallah, none a' them really have what Oy'm looking fer," he replied.

"Not even zhe one zhat can be a living flame. My God, I never thought I'd zee zhe day zhat St. John Allerdyce did not go for somethink with fire," replied Piotr in his white T-shirt from the Metropolitan Museum of Art which featured Van Gogh's Starry Night, and a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms.

"Ooohhh," said Remy clutching his chest, "Y've really done it, homme, Piotr said something sarcastic."

"Ha ha, laugh it up, Oy guess Oy just got moy eye on some otha Shiela," he replied cryptically.

"Now dis wouldn't have somethin' t' do wit' a certain 'bewitching' fille from de team dat is sometimes a thorn to de X-Men, now would it?" asked Remy with a grin that would make the Cheshire cat jealous as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what if it did, mate," asked John, trying not to betray anything.

"Zhen, I would guess zhat you are feeling worried zhat she is currently in zhe hands of Stryker," replied Piotr.

"Alroyt, yes, don't remind me," complained John.

"What is it wit' you and filles that are dangerous to y' health'?" asked Remy.

"Oh c'mon, mate, I know she loykes me too, she was totally chekin' moy out, when we were at the Boarding House on business with Ol' Buckethead, when he tol' his twins that he would leave 'em alone, from now on," replied John, "and Oy'm noyt the only one who loykes tha Shielas that are dangerous to ya health. Oy mean, what is witcha and that Rogue Sheila?"

"Yes, comrade, indeed," said Colossus, also helping to pulling the normally composed Cajun thief into a corner as well.

"Argh," groaned Remy, as his hands covered and shock his head, "There's nothin' goin' on between us. I doubt we could even be considered friends. We're barely acquaintances."

"Royt, mate, tha's woy ya flirted up a storm with 'er," said John.

"Homme, we spent mo' time arguin' an' dis homme flirt wit' all de belle filles. Rogue be no different," defended Remy.

"Perhaps, comrade, but youss seem awfully close," mused the tall dark Russian.

"Well, we did spend some time toget'er in N'Awlins," responded Remy.

"And woyt exactly happened in New Orleans, Rem?" asked John, while waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"John, de fille can't even touch, an' I'm not like dat," said the red-eyed Cajun.

"Royt, Remy, royt," teased John.

"Youss and her seem to be able to get into each ozher's nerves very easily, comrade," expanded Piotr.

"Well, I guess we do have a mutual understandin' o' each ot'er not'in mo' from our time in together in N'Awlins. We just have a lot in common," stated Remy, trying not to push himself further into the hot seat.

"Shore," said Pyro amusedly. Both he and Colossus had gotten to know the Cajun thief exceedingly well, and at times, the three seemed to be like brothers, almost. Both could see that there was some sort of connection he had with Rogue, just like Kitty saw in her friend as well. And while others would not even notice it, and just think that they knew how to push each other's buttons, they saw that it was more than that. They saw that link that seemed to be connecting them, in the way they had interacted the night before.

While others may brush off their insults and bantering as petty arguments, the truth was, that they were acting somewhat out of character, enough so, for their friends to notice. While most would think that their remarks to each other were spiteful, and exceedingly sarcastic, and in their tournament of comebacks, many would need a scorecard to keep up, they could see it was in good humor, and a strange game for the Southerners that neither knew when it began and when it would end, or if they even really wanted it to end.

They knew that Remy had flirted with, dated, and beded more women than they would ever get to in a lifetime combined with all the rest of the males in the school and the fact was that they could see that as happy as he would seem on the outside, on the inside, he was in turmoil and trying to get over what had happened to him with Genevieve four years before, although they did not know the exact events that occurred. He was certainly using women as an escape to his tortured soul for many reasons aside from Gen.

Just as Kitty and Kurt, too, knew that Rogue, used her mutation as an excuse to shun the world for all the betrayal and hurt she had gone through in her short life. That she refused to let anyone in and truly trusted only a select few. She had closed herself off, allowing no one to penetrate her walls, while wallowing in her loneliness and despair that the others never saw of her. They did not see her pain, her sorrow, it was too well hidden, behind her mask, her façade, and Kitty and Kurt had to look deep before they could even see it.

"Alright, then, since you get to question m' intentions with Rogue, Piotr, what is going on between you and de chat?" asked Remy turning the attention away from him.

"Oooohhh," squealed John as he clapped excitedly, "what is going on, Petey?"

"Uhhhh…ummm…I don't know vhat youss are talking about," said Piotr shyly as he turned beet red and looked away.

"Oh ya know, Petey, that short Sheila that ya were gushing to all night," said Pyro, "Ya know, tha one with that brunette with tha high ponytail, full o' perkiness."

"De one y' were all awkward with. What wit' y' shuffling and fidgeting, not to mention de fiddling," said Remy, "Y' and were were bot' babbling on about nothing de entire time.

"Oy've nevah seen ya stutter so much in tha presence of a Sheila, mate, and that's sayin' somethin'," responded the pyromaniac.

"Vell…ummm….uhhh…ummm….yes…uuhhh…" said Piotr just like he had, when he was in conversation with one Katherine Pryde.

"Well, isn't dis reminiscent," observed Remy.

"Oy wonder why…?" asked St. John sarcastically.

Piotr sighed and said, "Ve've got a lot to talk about…like art; she zeems very interested it it."

"Well, tha's because tha Sheila loykes ya, mate," said John with a wolfish smile, cheekily.

"An' y' obviously like her," analyzed Remy, "just go fo' it. I'm sure she'd say yes, if y' asked de fille out."

"Perhaps," said Piotr trying to stay neutral and not let the boys gains anymore leverage.

"Ya know, this place feels loyke all tha kiddies presents were taken on Christmas morning," said John.

The boys had noticed the somber mood of the entire mansion due to the current situation involving Stryker and the virus he had developed. Everyone felt so helpless and guilty, that anything they could try in this moment would just end hopelessly, plunging their lives into oblivion. They would fail, and that was the one thing they couldn't afford this time. They had to wait for that one opportune moment to strike, and that chance, was one in a million, when it's gone, the chance would be lost forever, so they had to plan well.

"Yes, comrade, I believe it has to do vith some of their schoolmates and other fellow mutants being abducted by Stryker," responded Piotr.

"Yeah, dey're none too happy. Dey could use some cheering up, dat's fo' sure," responded Remy.

"Well, Oy've goyt just tha thing ta cheer them up, mates," grinned the pyromaniac insanely.

"You're not thinkink zhat, are you…?" trailed off Piotr.

"Woy of course, mate, who d'ya take me for?" asked John brightly.

Remy pushed the hair out of his eyes by running his hand through it in an annoyed matter and shook his head and sighed. "Well, dey do need cheering up…" he started.

"Not you too, comrade?" questioned Piotr.

Remy just sighed again. "Why d' I always get pulled int' dese things wit' him?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Oh, c'mon, ya both know ya want ta," urged Pyro.

"Oh, fine," said Piotr reluctantly, "I may still regret zhis."

"You very may will," said Pyro.

"Well dat's reassuring," stated Remy sarcastically.

"The best part is, everythin's already set up, we woyn't hafta lift a finger. They won't even suspect it," said John excitedly, while Piotr and Remy just prayed that it wouldn't get too extravagant or get out of hand. Well, they knew it would get out of hand, but they still didn't want to get in trouble, much…

* * *

Meanwhile, Kurt, Kitty and Rogue were headed to the boys' room to usher them into the breakfast nook, for the late brunch.

"Katzhen, did you notice zhat Rogue seemed, well almost friendly towards Remy last night?" asked Kurt in hushed tones, to Kitty, while Rogue stopped for a quick chat ahead of them with Rahne who was in her deep blue and pale blue pajamas with printed wolves.

"Yes, she was, it's sorta like, out of character for her to warm up to someone so quick, I mean, sure, the others might dismiss it as a all out war for wit supremacy, but I don't think I've ever seen her like this with anyone," whispered Kitty.

"No, me neizher, she seemed much more open to Remy in two hours than she vas vith us in two months," whispered Kurt back, "I've never seen meine Schwester so talkative to someone like zhat."

"Hmm…" thought Kitty as she and Kurt ended their conversation as Rahne departed for breakfast and Rogue waited for them to catch up to her.

They approached the boys' room to summon them for breakfast and Rogue knocked the door to bring the boys to their attention.

"Ya guys comin' foh breakfast with us?" called Rogue.

"In a minute, mates, go down without us, we know tha way," called back St. John as he grinned at his co-conspirators, while they wondered what they had got themselves into and why they were attempting something like this so soon after they had just moved in.

Rogue looked back to Kitty and Kurt and shrugged.

"We might as vell go, zhen," said Kurt as he led the girls down the hall to the stairs that led to the main floor.

Meanwhile in the room John was in his element, directing the plot to cheer up the gloomy X-Men.

"We'll do Operation Moon Man Stomp," he said excitedly.

"No dat's too complicated and it would probably get us kicked out, eit'er dat, or Wolvie would maim us, an' I don' know 'bout y', but I'm not quite ready for dat," rationalized Remy.

"Ooooohhhh fine," said John dejectedly, but then he got jovial once again as he remembered, "what about the 'Cowabunga Cat Chew Choice of Chaos'? It's perfectly delectable," he said with a mischievous glint in his leaf green eyes.

"Too much destruction and damage," said Piotr, "we don't want to destroy zhe mansion so quickly just after moving in, comrade."

"Hmmm…then its…" he made eye contact with both Remy and Piotr and gave them 'the look' that only they knew, "'that' that we'll do then…" he finished with an evil look to him. Piotr and Remy, despite their objections to this couldn't help but smile as well. The X-Men sure had no clue what was about to happen to them and boy, would they be surprised, hopefully, pleasantly…

* * *

As Kitty, Rogue and Kurt entered the breakfast nook, it looked to be the same as it did on all weekends. There was the usual crew of Saturday cartoon watchers that had yet to eat breakfast, as well as many teenagers doing random, often, destructive things, albeit no powers. It was usually due to the need for survival and getting the best of the food first, even though the amount of food available on the table was sickening. Surprisingly, by the end of breakfast, after all had eaten, the table would be completely cleared of any trace of food. Strangely enough, the usual chaos of breakfast was subdued due to the fact that they all knew that there were mutants at this very moment being taken by Stryker and they were helpless to do anything.

The noise had reached a mid hum, and the three found a place to eat near the center of the large wooden table and began to scoop all the desired food into a preset plate. They sat across from Scott, Jean and Hank and to their left and right were the Newer Recruits and Evan on either side of the table in their own conversations. By the time they had come in, Logan, Ororo, and Xavier had already eaten and was currently holed up in the professor's office talking strategy to infiltrate Stryker's base and succeed, a most delicate topic. Only Hank, who was currently engrossed in his morning coffee and newspaper, was supervising the rambunctious teenagers, with a little help from Scott and Jean, who were currently too engrossed in each other and their conversation to notice the chaos around them, just as Hank was with his paper.

Alex, Evan, Sam, Tabby, Ray and Rahne, the band of skate/punk/rebel group were currently engrossed in a conversation about the current state of the degrading music industry, while Amara, Roberto, Jamie, Jubilee and Bobby were engrossed in some sort of strange sarcastic conversation. Well actually Jubilee and Bobby were currently trying to secretly prank Amara and Roberto who were trying to keep up a decent intelligent conversation while Jamie played both sides as he couldn't decide which was better, to prank Amara and Roberto with Jubilee and Bobby or to prove his worth as the youngest member of the X-Men. Betsy and Warren had yet to show up for breakfast along with the former Acolyte boys.

"Well, this is like the one thing I did not miss while back in Chicago at Christmas break," said Kitty Pryde, the native Chicagoan of the X-Men from the community of Deer Brooke. (I know that Deerbrooke was the town, or whatever, but since Kitty's really supposed to be Chicago, I made Deerbrooke one of the communities of Chicago.)

"Ja," sighed Kurt, as he ducked a piece of bacon being projected across the table in an attempt at retaliation from Amara that missed it's mark, as Bobby and Jubilee had finally pranked Roberto and her, when Jamie decided that to prove his maturity was a lost cause at the moment and pranking was more fun, "it's times like these, zhat I miss my parents in Germany."

Seeing the flying food, Jean and Scott broke out of their self-induced trance to stop the bacon in the air telepathically, and set it in garbage bin by the side of the room, and to give the teenagers a flashy red warning glare. Hank ignored it all, as it was commonplace to him after dealing with students for more than ten years in his teaching career and continued to sip his coffee and read the morning paper. Stopping momentarily to brush a stray piece of bacon from his furry blue shoulder and mumble something about what bacon grease would do to his fur.

"Hmmm…it's tahmes lahke this that Ah miss tha rivah back home in Mississippi, where it's quiet," said Rogue as she scooped some eggs into her fork and placed them in her mouth.

Kurt, Kitty and Rogue then entered a comfortable silence where they concentrated on eating their breakfasts. Kitty and Rogue at a steady pace, while Kurt gobbled it up like there was no tomorrow taking both seconds and thirds. He was about halfway through his third plate, just as the girls were just about finished when Piotr and John entered the breakfast nook.

"G'Mornin', mates," greeted John cheerily with a smile that would seem just too fake and wide on anyone else. It sort of creeped out many of the X-Men, but Kitty, Kurt and Rogue had gotten used to it, when they watched the movie last night.

"Good Morning," said Piotr in his deep voice flavored by his thick Russian accent.

The rest of the mutants gave various greetings as the pair got seats next to the three they had gotten to know the night before. John sat next to Kurt, his fellow jokester, while Piotr sat next to Kitty launching the two into a only slightly less awkward conversation on the weather they were having. Rogue, Kurt and John shared a look then burst out laughing at the behavior of the two mutants beside them.

Suddenly the Ragin' Cajun made his grand entrance from the Institute's large kitchen by sweeping the swinging door open where a huge stream of steam escaped and enveloped him in a smoky white glow. All those in the kitchen were greeted by the delicious spicy scent of good homemade Southern cooking that Remy had made for his breakfast and eaten in the steamy kitchen. He entered the nook dashingly as he stepped out of the steam holding a large cauldron filled with a strange concocted brew of some sort.

As the wispy mist cleared, the suave Cajun spoke. The words curling from his mouth in his smooth sexy accent were annunciated to perfection, "Jus' can't go long wit'out somethin' good an' Sout'ern for breakfast."

"Remy, Remy, ooohhhh goody, what cha up ta?" questioned John with a huge wolfish grin speaking oddly in a strangely rehearsed dialogue kind of voice.

Remy gave his usual cocky smirk, causing most of the girls, sans Rogue, Kitty and Jean to swoon uncontrollably. Rogue was immune, while Kitty and Jean gave an unabashed appraisal of his slyness. They were too experienced and knowledgeable to fully swoon for the cunning Thief in his presence.

"Not'in' much, homme," replied Remy in his charming voice which enthralled the entire room as Piotr and John got up to meet Remy at the back of the room behind Kurt, Kitty and Rouge.

"Vhat do youss have in zhere, comrade?" asked Piotr.

"One o' m' special recipe gumbos dat I'd like t' share wit' y'all," he answered with a smile that stated, 'I know something you don't know.' In fact, all three boys seemed to give them that look.

"Ooohhh goody, I love this stuff, mate, so loyke ya made tha special kind we use to well… Petey…if you will," said John as he handed the floor to Piotr.

"Ve give it as our vay of saying thanks or velcome or to cheer someone up," he said, "it is a special recipe zhat was developed by Remy dat John and myself added to vhen ve lived together."

"Yeah, mates, we'd loyke ta share it with ya fer bein' so undahstandin' and accepting us so quickly, even though we've fought ya in tha past," elaborated John, "this is a token of our thanks, and we all hope you appreciate it."

"Now, Remy," said Poitr with a large smile that lit up his usually stoic face, "vould you like to do zhe honor of serving zhe gumbo?"

"O' course, homme," replied Remy with a grin.

The three boys grinned at each other as Remy stepped towards the table filled with touched X-Men for the boys' thoughtfulness.

Remy stirred the concoction with the ladle semi-submerged in the cauldron and moved towards Rogue, Kitty and Kurt who were all amused at the boys' announcement. No one had ever been so bold as to go to the front of the room and give an amusing speech like that.

He finally made it to the three teens that had their turned in their direction, but were now facing the front to await Remy who would serve them, however they were in for a big surprise as Remy stood above Rogue and readied his first serving of gumbo. He slowly ladled up the hot fluid and pulled it out of the cauldron with ease, every eye on his movement, watching how Rogue would react when she tasted the food.

Before the food could reach her plate, Remy quickly switched directions and dumped the entire contents of the ladle onto Rogue's head eliciting a gasp from the room. Rogue took a deep breath in a delayed reaction, having not expected that at all. She brushed the gumbo soaked hair out of her eyes and thought of all the reasons why she was right about Remy and Kitty was wrong in her head of her conversation that morning, while Kurt pointed at her and was killing himself with laughter, while Kitty secretly prayed to the Gods above that Rogue wouldn't kill her own brother, adopted brother, but still. Rogue was starring at Remy with a look that would kill.

"SWAMP RAT!" exclaimed Rogue, getting ready for the kill.

Suddenly, Pyro dunked his hand into the cauldron and grasped a handful of the thick fluid, quickly slugging it into the face of the cackling Nightcrawler. His laughing stopped abruptly as the gumbo dribbled down his face and hair. A shocked expression ruled his blue furred face which was clumpy and marred by the gumbo.

The whole room stared shocked at the trio and Remy and John slugged the gumbo at both Kurt and Rogue and finally Kitty who gasped upon the hit of gumbo impacting with her face. It dribbled down her face and she gaped at Piotr, completely stunned.

"P-P-Piotr?" gasped Kitty surprised at the actions of the stoic Russian's friends.

Piotr met her eyes with an amused smirk on his handsome face and said to her, "I'm sorry Katya," before promptly shoving a load of gumbo into her hair and eyes.

Kitty glared at him upon recovering. She, Kurt and Rogue exchanged looks and Kurt grabbed both girls and bampfed them away to some unknown location. The three boys exchanged a shrug, for all they cared; they still had plenty of people to inflict the gumbo on.

The X-Men had not recovered as of yet and were still stunned that the newbies had just dumped food on Kurt, Kitty and most importantly ROGUE, you did not dump food on them, you just don't and they had all learned the hard way. Since the X-Men were still too surprised to react, the three boys decided to shock them out of reverie by tossing the gumbo at everyone, getting all the X-Men slimed.

It was then that the X-Men snapped out of it and started to act out…Bobby, poured maple syrup on John, Amara tossed the eggs at Remy and Rahne poured the sausage grease down Piotr's front. It was then that an all out free for all food fight was started between all who were in the nook. Even Hank, Jean and Scott were not left out, though Scott and Jean tried to restore order for about ten seconds before giving up when Scott surprisingly tossed oatmeal at Jean and Hank poured orange juice on them both. It was a tornado of breakfast food in the room and it looked like some famous artist's splatter paint art on the walls of the room. Everyone had started to become covered from head to toe with food and screeches of laughter could be heard all around. The boys had done their job, they had given some happiness, and laughter and life back into the somber mood of the Institute.

* * *

Ororo and Logan were enjoying a peaceful midmorning stroll in the gardens to the back of the Institute when they heard and saw some peculiar things from the breakfast nook and the supposed 'responsible' ones were part of it…

"Do we even wanna know, darlin'?" asked Logan grimly as he surveyed the mess. It was gonna be a long clean up.

"No," said Storm firmly and they continued walking. There were some things you just learned to ignore and deal with later in the Institute and food fights were one of them. You waited for it to be winding down before confronting the teenagers or else you would be the victim of their wrath.

They decided that the peaceful morning would most definitely not last, but they were gonna stretch it out for as long as they possibly could. Logan held Ororo's hand and led her to a quiet path that led to the gazebo overlooking the ocean on the cliff. The two would deal with the teenagers later.

* * *

BAMPF!

A clumpy furred Kurt reappeared with an equally messy and soaked Kitty and Rogue in the kitchen of the Institute. The very same kitchen were Remy had made his evil brew.

"I'll get zhe peanut butter," said Kurt as he headed to the pantry and pulled out a five gallon bucket of the said spread, while Kitty grabbed a large container of ketchup and mustard and Rogue grabbed a humongous bowl filled with unformed Jell-O, most of the Jell-O was still liquidy with some solid bits floating in chunks on the top.

They then proceeded to put the peanut butter and condiments into the Jell-O until it was thick and a strange brownish red. The smell made you want to gag and it was a miracle that they didn't. They each grabbed smaller buckets and scrape and divide the concoction into the buckets. (This is a true concoction they use at the camp I go to each summer, except they don't mix the said food. They just chuck it consecutively at people during Kangaroo Court, when you're a victim of some sort, in different scenarios. And peanut butter is the worst thing for your hair…)

The three grabbed their buckets of the disgusting brew and prepared to reenter the war zone.

* * *

Remy, John and Piotr were currently winning the food fight which they had started by a very large margin. They were triple teaming the members of the X-Men, and even though they were covered in breakfast foods, the other X-Men had it worst, especially Bobby, who resembled an oatmeal snowman.

BAMPF!

And with that, Kitty, Rogue and Kurt had reentered the food fight, with much better ammo than some of the residents who surprisingly were very into this kind of thing and were very creative with the food slinging, even those who you would never expect, as in Hank McCoy, the Beast, the residing teacher at this particular breakfast, and long standing couple Scott Summers and Jean Grey, who were not only pummeling each other with food, but effectively double teaming the likes of one Robert Drake. Strangely enough, this show of all the students' inner child had not resulted in the use of powers to cause mayhem.

The three that had just rejoined the fight, advanced on the three boys that had initiated the fight and launched their mixture at the boys, aiming especially for the hair where it could do the most damage and allow the victim to smell the disgusting gag-worthy odor.

Kurt got to John first and laughing slugged the pyromaniac, who was laughing insanely with the mixture that he, Rogue and Kitty had created earlier, only get a handful of the horrid gumbo in his face. However, John's hair was now effectively flattened from its pristine spikes. Soon a small battle erupted between the two boys around the breakfast nook, both were unsuccessfully trying to evade the shots that the other threw at them and both sported globs of food on their clothing and body.

Kurt ran towards John who tried run away from Kurt and they began to circle the table with food flying every now and then.

"Ya cayn't catch moy, ya bugger," taunted John as he dodged a shot and rounded a corner of the table.

"Vell zhen, take zhis, you bipolar," screeched Kurt as he hurled some of the mixture at John that landed right in his face effectively blocking his vision.

"Argh," screeched John as he frantically tried to scrap the mixture from his face, but since he was unsuccessful, he began to head off into the kitchen to wash it off using the sink. However, it would not be easy going with Kurt now blocking the entrance.

Thinking fast, John hurled some gumbo towards Kurt and while Kurt was distracted when trying to dodge it, he made a run into the kitchen. Kurt followed suit and another war started in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Kitty had enough of going after the other housemates and decided to get back at Piotr for chucking that God awful gunk into her hair, although she didn't really care much about that now, due to her fight with the mansion's inhabitants upon her return to the fight, but it was the principle. So the petite girl snuck behind Piotr who was currently preoccupied with defending himself from the likes of Ray, Sam and Alex to concentrate on what was going on behind him. Silently, Kitty stood up on a chair to reach the relatively same height as Piotr and poured a large amount of the mixture in her possession down the back of his shirt.

Piotr let out a startled shout as the slimy liquid drizzled down his back was freezing cold.

"Serves you right!" exclaimed Kitty with none of her usual sweetness.

Piotr turned around with a scowl that turned into a wide grin which confused Kitty slightly, but she would regret not reacting sooner, as Piotr shoved a large amount of Remy's gumbo into her face. She retaliated after she recovered from her shock by flinging some of her gunk into his face and soon, a battle erupted between the two of them where one would throw food at the other and the other would retaliate. When it became clear that Kitty was being overpowered by Piotr's strength, she began to retreat into the kitchen for an ambush or surprise attack. She would chuck food at Piotr the entire time she was planning her retreat and Piotr reciprocated the attack with that of his own, following her, unaware of her plan.

"Yoss cannot escape so easily Katya," he said as Kitty backed closer to the door.

"Who says I'm trying to escape, huh?" returned Kitty as she hurled a nicely aimed piece of gunk into his eyes, blinding him momentarily. She then used this distraction to run into the kitchen where John and Kurt were currently turning it into a pigsty. She leaned against the wall right beside the opening of the door and prepared for Piotr's emergence, while amusedly watching John and Kurt fight each other which involved lots of laughing and food on the ceiling. Those poor ceiling fans were never the same again.

Suddenly Piotr burst through the doors only to be ambushed by Kitty repeatedly hurtling gunk at him. When the boys saw this, they decided it would be fun to join in and did so. Soon Piotr was being plummeted from all sides with food with Kitty, Kurt and John laughing hard as Piotr struggled to retaliate and block his face with his hands.

As this was going on, the food fight in the breakfast nook was still as intense. Rahne, Jubilee and Tabby were hardcore going against Amara, Roberto and Jamie, the latter had recruited Amara once it became apparent that they could not beat the girls on their own, effectively transferring Amara to the so called 'Dark Side' as Tabby had put it. Rahne had stated that she was a turncoat while Amara had good naturedly said that she only fought for the side that would win, and Jubilee had rebutted by saying that she should be on their side then. It was certainly an intense fight since they were all using liquids in their battle of milk, juice, syrup and some assorted sauces. Both teams exchanged lighthearted banter.

Seeing Robert Drake's plight, Hank decided to defend him from the torment of his peers by joining his crusade. Using his ape like strength and grace, Hank pummeled the two leaders with food causing the tides to change in Bobby's favor. But Scott and Jean were resilient and would not give up so easily.

"I always took you for a turncoat," stated Scott overdramatically of Hank.

"All those years we thought of him as a mentor, when in reality he was in league with the horrid IcePick," agreed Jean.

"Hey," defended Bobby, "at least I'm not on the side of 'Neurotically Perfect Girl' and 'Stick-up-his Ass Man'."

"Oh no!" responded Jean, "he insulted Stick-up-his Ass Man and Neurotically Perfect Girl, he's certainly up for an ass whooping of the vile mixture of scrambled eggs and orange juice, Stick-up-his Ass Man"

"Yes, Neurotically Perfect Girl," started Scott as he prepared to launch some of the vile mixture at the two of them, "we must defend ourselves from the IcePick and Blue Neanderthal."

"Come IcePick," said Hank, "I, the Blue Neanderthal will help you to defeat the terrible Stick-up-his Ass Man and Neurotically Perfect Girl." He began to toss some soggy cereal at Scott and Jean who laughed and rebutted with the eggs.

"Yes, Blue Neanderthal, we must win against the Terrible Control Freaks!" shouted Bobby as he helped Hank.

Around them Evan and Alex were running in a way similar to John and Kurt before hand and both were covered from head to toe in slop. Suddenly Alex's missed shot hit Bobby in the back of his head. Bobby then retaliated by throwing soggy cereal at him, and Neurotically Perfect Girl and Stick-up-his Ass Man defended Alex, as he was Scott's brother from IcePick. Evan seeing the sides, joined Hank and Bobby against Scott, Jean and Alex.

"Oh no, Neurotically Perfect Girl, the Poisonous Porcupine has joined their ranks," said Scott.

"It's alright, Stick-up-his Ass Man," said Alex, "I the Superfluous Surfer Boy, shall help you defeat them."

At this point the six people had already started a rather comical comic themed fight and all were covered in food.

Across the room from them were Remy and Rogue embroiled in a heated battle of both food and insult. In was most certainly a deadly mix of ammunition.

"Somehow Ah'm not surprised that ya can't cook anything edible, Swamp Rat," insulted Rogue.

"Well, at least I can cook something, chere, unlike y' who's never even been in a kitchen," defended Remy.

"Ha, well lookie here, Swamp Rat's just admitted to not being able to cook," said Rogue smugly.

"Well den, chere, how d'y' like de taste o' dis," said Remy as he hurled some gumbo into her unsuspecting face.

"Well if ya think that's good Swamp Rat, let's see ya trah some a' this," returned Rogue as she tossed some of her mixture into Remy's face.

"Y' definitely need t' learn de basics o' de fine style o' cuisine dat is Southern cookin', chere," said Remy.

"Well ya taste must be terrible, Swamp Rat, because this is fine Southern cooking right here," shouted Rogue slugging more food at him.

"Or mebbe you jus' don' know de South anymore, since you don' seem to know much about it anymo' as your food shows," scoffed Remy slogging more food at her.

"If ya call that trash food, then ya got another thing comin', Swamp Rat," screeched Rogue pummeling Remy with multiple fistfuls of food.

"Perhaps, but it seems like y' are mo' likely t' be from Scotland or Ireland an one o' de Banshees wit' a voice like dat," responded Remy yet again pushing food at her as they traveled around the room sparring verbally and physically.

"I'll show ya Banshee," she exclaimed dumping orange juice all over Remy drenching him, "well, well, looks lahke I've stumbled upon a Swamp Rat."

"Looks like I've stumbled on a River Rat den," said Remy as he dumped milk on her.

"Or perhaps, it's the Creature from the Black Lagoon," said Rogue as she tossed a mixture of bacon, eggs and oatmeal all over him.

"I believe I find de rare spotted puffer fish, non?" said Remy smirking as he tossed a mixture of oatmeal, chunks of hash browns and assorted fruit at her.

"Argh," screamed Rogue as she reverted back to throwing her peanut butter mixture at him.

"Looks like I anger de puffer fish, non?" said an amused Remy, also reverting to tossing his gumbo at Rogue.

They continued tossing their food at each other around the room, verbal sparring matches erupting along the way until they saw Piotr struggling at kitchen the door. Remy saw this as an opportunity to help his friend and began to assist Piotr by tossing food at John, Kurt and Kitty. Rogue seeing her opportunity for a sneak attack took a bowl of sticky pie filling and poured it on Remy's head. Seeing Rogue distracted with Remy, Kitty and Kurt double teamed and tossed food at Rogue and soon all students ran into the kitchen and a free for all war of food fighting supremacy started in the already messy kitchen. This was by far the most intense war in the mansion for it was about survival of the fittest. Shrieks, screams and laughter could be heard from the kitchen behind the closed door by those dukeing it out in the nook.

* * *

"So luv, ya ready for anotha crazy breakfast with the X-Men?" asked Betsy amusedly to Warren.

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Warren in a mock brave tone.

Both were unsuspecting of the fight going on in the kitchen and breakfast nook and blissfully unaware entered the war zone. They had lived at the Institute for about two months now and were still new to the mansion. They didn't know all its quirks. They didn't know that when noises of things breaking, students screaming and strange sloshing noises should be avoided at all costs until the situation was controllable like Ororo and Logan did.

So they entered the nook by opening the door and stepped in. The door slammed shut behind them and neither was seen the same ever again. Both saw the appalling state of the nook and were undecided if they should break it up or flee the scene, however, they had no time to decide as food was flung their way and they were covered in breakfast food in a matter of seconds. Betsy's purple hair was now home to cereal bits and Warren's wings now had feathers of bacon and sausages.

Both stood still not knowing how to react, the X-Men seeing that they had hit unknowing participants froze. The only noise they could hear was traveling from the kitchen where Rogue, Remy, Kurt, Kitty, John and Piotr's free for all was going strong. Suddenly Warren broke out in laughter when seeing Betsy's face and expression covered with food.

Betsy scowled at him, "Oh, so you think this is funny luv?"

She used her telekinesis to dump vast amounts of orange juice on him that stained his pure white wings orange. Warren shut up at that. The students began to laugh at this exchange only to shut up after seeing the twin expressions of vengeance on their faces. Both gathered food from their bodies and tossed it into the crowd of gathered X-Men, all meeting their marks impeccably. And thus the food fight continued with the X-Men retaliating against Warren and Betsy who now entered the war.

* * *

"You ever wonder if they would stop doing that, Logan?" asked Ororo of the food fights at the mansion.

"No, darling, I've just learned that they'll never stop doing it," replied Logan.

"Hmm…" said Ororo as she snuggled closer into Logan who had his arm around her as they watched the waves crash into the cliffs from the gazebo, to get warmer in the cold January weather.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, 'Ro?" asked Logan.

"Oh, just remembering how we got together," she said.

"Ah, our long journey to reach this state of oblivion when the kids decide that they'd like to turn the mansion into a war zone," said Logan.

"Exactly," said Ororo, basking in the cool air as she watched her breath that was visible due to the cold.

"I say we take another ten minutes of blissful unawareness," decided Logan.

"Make that twenty and you've got a deal," said Ororo.

"Anything you say, darlin', anything you say," said Logan.

* * *

Logan and Ororo was certainly not a traditional couple in any sense. He was a gruff, yet honorable warrior, she a once worshiped Goddess and yet years of friendship had led to something more that was most certainly well buried in the depths of their hearts. It was one hot summer day, training in the Danger Room that these feelings finally emerged. They had been sparring hand to hand combat style when all of a sudden in one swiftly executed move they ended up caught in a tight embrace in which both could do nothing but stare into each other's eyes. Time passed and it was some time before they could get out from their position. Luckily, no one had seen them at the time, and this little event went unnoticed.

They had parted awkwardly with tongue-tied words exchanged. This would be the beginning of a summer long session of awkward meetings whenever they met up and all the students noticed this, and of course the blooming attraction of their instructors. The students had all met up and eventually schemed to get two of their valued instructors together for one romantic night to get them out of the awkwardness as it was affecting all of them. So recruiting Hank into the matter, they set up a 'blind date' that neither would know was a blind date when the professor was out of town.

Using this to their advantage, they got Hank to say that a foreign dignitary with questionable mutant practices in their country was coming to town and that they needed to know the extent of their tyranny towards mutants. Thus setting up a so-called mission to be set up. They got Ororo to pretend to be another foreign dignitary interested in the practices of controlling mutants like the dignitary did in their homeland and to get as much information on them to bring them down. A dinner was scheduled at a fancy New York restaurant with the dignitary that the students had set up.

Meanwhile, Logan was told that they had found a member of the former Weapon-X program who could help him find more of his past and that member had agreed to set up a meeting at a restaurant at New York as well. The students kept the identity of the restaurant secret to 'protect the dignitary and former secret agent', so that both Logan and Ororo would be in the dark.

They found a gorgeous restaurant with beautiful outdoor seating that looked out into the river, with an authentic European feel. The students had got a private table away from all the bustle of the restaurant at the back of the outdoor area made of stone and marble with raised sections that you entered from stairs. The restaurant looked exactly like an outdoor café in Paris or Italy with the interior of the restaurant in a building made to look like a building above the café area. There were balconies emanating from the building as well with tables set up on them as well as hundreds of restaurant goers on the inside as well. The outside held exclusive tables and were done like a street and were made of stone and marble like a courtyard. It had raised sections that looked to the river where you entered from stairs. A band played in the courtyard as well.

Ororo and Logan got a very private section that faced the river with an oil lamp illuminating the table and deep red fabric decoratively draped on the thick marble railings that protected you from a drop into the river. Trees grew on the balcony like area as well as around the courtyard and line of white fairy lights sparkled over head as well as wrapped in the trees. Other plants were grown as well.

The students had made sure that Ororo got there first and waited for the 'dignitary' wearing a stunning red dress, that was accentuated by her dark skin. They made sure Logan arrived later with flowers and a ride from Scott as they did not want him to look messy from his motorcycle for the date and made him wear a proper suit. They also made sure that they got the best food that had been preordered as well as the best service.

When both saw who it was they were in fact meeting with, they were surprised to say the least, but decided to go on the date as the students went to so much trouble to get them together. At the end of the date, which involved dancing, talking and eating, both had decided they had an incredible time and decided to go on a second date, thus setting the ball rolling with their relationship that they had the students to thank for starting.

* * *

"Well, darlin', we should get back now," stated the Wolverine with a sigh.

"Yes, we should," said Ororo reluctantly as Logan lead the way back to the mansion and the previously avoided chaos.

As they reached the breakfast nook, they made as much noise as possible to deter anymore fighting. Rogue, Remy, Kitty, Piotr, Kurt and John had eventually joined forces to form a superteam that had annihilated all the X-Men and their attempts at food fighting supremacy.

"ALRIGHT, THIS IS ENOUGH!" shouted Logan as he and Ororo entered the room with authoritarian looks on their faces, "you've had your fun, now clean up this pigsty."

"We expected better of you all," said Ororo to all of them sternly, "I expect a thorough clean up is in order."

"You all have a Danger Room session in an hour so you'd better hurry up," said Logan smiling sadistically.

Groans could be heard around the room as they knew he truly meant that all would be facing a DR session even the adults like Hank, Warren and Betsy who had surprisingly fought in the food fight. None were happy as they would have to clean themselves and the room up and then go for a Danger Room session, it was particularly annoying as they all would have to take another shower this morning to get rid of the food and then after the Danger Room session to wash away the sweat and grossness of one of Logan's infamous sessions. He's undoubtedly go hard on them, after this little escapade.

* * *

The start of something is never smooth and this was no exception. Remy and Rogue's relationship certainly started strangely and it would be some time before this strange pre friendship evolved into something strong and unbreakable. But now, it was growing, even slow, it was growing, something had planted itself in their hearts unknowingly and would begin to grow, but it would be some time before either would notice the hold that they had in each other from the beginning. But both would later admit that there was always something between them. Between the poisonous words and insults was something deeper that no one but them could understand, and this was the start of it, the point where it really truly began to start to grow.

* * *

This is largely unedited so please bear with. I hope you enjoyed this after such a long break, I've been writing since April on this chapter, but was really lazy in getting it out so I'm really sorry. And I cut down this chappie, but some stuff will be carried on in the next one, which will probably come out on the weekend. So things are looking up for you guys. REVIEWS get the updates up faster, so they'll be much appreciated. If you request it, I'll write a detailed version of the Rolo get together restaurant trick.

**UP NEXT: OVERLOAD**

My promised appearances come in here and some truly shocking revelations and a DR session.

REVIEW!

simba317


	6. Overload

**Disclaimer: **I do not own X-Men Evolution, the X-Men or any characters that come from the realm of Marvel. This is just my interpretations on what occurred in Evo, after it went on hiatus. So don't sue. This is fan fiction so it's beyond the point to sue.

**Author's Notes:** Hey lookie that, I'm back up on updating schedule. I used to churn out a chappie once or twice a week…well, I think it's time to get back on track. I love you guys' reviews right now because you wrote more than like two words. And I'm actually getting a good response for this ficlet. **I'd like to extend my gratitude to Nettlez for trying to get more people to read and review my fic, that really means a lot to me and I'm honored that you'd do that for me. It's really sweet. So thanks a whole bunch. This chappie goes out to you. **

**I'm glad that I'm getting such positive feedback, although I wish more of you guys would REVIEW. I love to get them, and enjoy taking the time to respond to each one. **

I love Romyness and although I'm sure a lot of you guys want to have them just fall for each other right there, I just can't write that. I feel that they need the time to really sort things out and to build on a strong relationship. I'm a hopeless romantic and I love that sort of stuff, but I love it when authors really take the time and build up their relationship with some good fluffiness and interaction in between. I love the build up because there's always that great sort of angst and irony, plus I just love it when they banter and are not sure of their feelings for each other. I love it when authors really delve into a character and really express how they feel, which is sorta my style. There'll be fluff eventually, starting out with friendly sorta interaction, but it will evolve. I promise. Just be patient, because good things come to those who wait.

Hmm…no ranting; that's a first. I you'll all enjoy this installment of this fic. It'll include some mystery guests, some further plot complications, subtle coupleness, more revelations, and of course a Danger Room session.

**Interesting Random Fact With No Uses: **The actual number for the Devil/Satan is not '666', but '616', the people read it in the bible wrong or something along those lines. Now all you comic book readers will know that '616' is the universe or timeline in which the main X-Men comics take place. Weird huh? Not to mention it kinda foreshadows the trials that all the people have to go through on that universe. The superheroes totally have to duke it out with super villains, mutant hating, etc…and the Romy relationship is constantly tampered with. The true work of the devil. I may be writing a fic to smite Marvel for that in the future due to the seeming break up they're making happen in issues like 168ish to 173/174. The idea for the fic is strange and very elaborate, but do involve Rogue and Remy ending up together.

**Shout Outs: **

**Guild: **I'm glad you like the bantering between Rogue and Remy. I'm never sure it I write it alright and I'm glad that people seem to be enjoying it. I'm also glad that you can't wait to read more of my ficlet and watch the Romy friendship grow…and into something more eventually. Thanks for the encouragement and the review, it really helps.

**Nettlez: **I love that you get so into my story and like it so much that you're willing to get my ficcie some exposure. That's why this chappie goes out to you. You're definitely one of the more enthusiastic readers I've encountered. That rox and thanks for believing this is kick ass. ;)

I really love Logan and Ororo as a couple because they really go well together. They're sorta opposite, but have a lot of things that work in their relationship. That's why I put them together. And I really thought they'd fit well into the story together. I really wanna show them as a totally in synch team in the DR and just fighting and teaching in general, plus, I think that a relationship would really accentuate that.

I'm glad you liked the food fight. That idea just sorta popped up one day and I just had to do it. It really shows the energy and vibrancy of the X-Mansion and I just really wanted a way to let Remy, Piotr and John to really thank the X-Men for really accepting them. And don't we all feel sorry for what poor Xavier has to deal with…

I'm glad that you think it's not 'mushy crap'. Although if I write mushiness, it'll be much romanticized, I think. I have good ideas of what I wanna have them do in the fic, and those future mushy moments will definitely be cute but not realistic, plus I'll probably be angsty with it too, just to not go overmush.

I like that you actually like longness. I personally love it when authors write long chapters. I hate short ones. They piss me off; there's not enough happening in them and they make me go what's the point sometimes, unless they're really good, usually though, they're not.

Thanks for spreading the word and reviewing. I love that. You're a doll.

**Bored247: **I love your adjective use. Thanks so incredibly much for that. I'm glad you survived. I barely survived writing that chappie, because I was sorta putting it off. I'm glad that you found this chapter funny because I felt it needed something to sort of lighten the mood from what happened in the last chappie. Since it was so heavy with them finding out about Stryker and all they have at stake, plus not to mention some of their conversations with each other. I also really wanted to capture the liveliness of the Institute. And don't food fights rock? The only ones I've ever been involved with have been at camp and they're some of my most fondest and funny memories. I'm glad you understand my updating plight and loved the chapter, it really means a lot to me. Thanks for reviewing.

**Ishandahalf: **I always love it when you review my chapters because I really admire, respect and look up to you as an author, plus I'm a huge fan of your work so update Symbiotic soon. I wanna see my story/author alerts go off, you hear? I'm glad that you think that it's good stuff as per usual, my brain mate. I sorta used my conversation with Kitty and Rogue to really bring out some of Rogue's feelings and just some of my opinions and views on Rogue at this stage.

And about the cool room part, I totally had this vision of their room and just had to personify it, just like the entire mansion. I'll probably ever do the descriptions only once, but I really want people to really see the X-Mansion that I envision. And I guess that part of the description that went into their room is sorta what I'd like my room to be. Plus I just love it when the two girls are roomies. And bright pink and neon green are not hideous colors together. Why? Because they're complimentary colours that come from green and red. They make the other color look the best when paired with it. So those colors really go well together and I'm glad you like them. Odd combo, sure, but they work. I'm an Art geek, I guess.

I love fics when Rogue and Kitty are good friends and I really love the relationship that they have. It's really interesting. You'd never think of them as best friends, and they're such opposites that their friendship really works. I just think that Kitty and Kurt can really understand Rogue in a way no one else can, Logan is included also in the group that really understands her and they're definitely closest to her out of everyone in the mansion. And I really think that Kitty is smart and intelligent and would definitely be able to see through Rogue after all their time together, and I just love it when she's so sharp and insightful.

I'm glad that you like my comments on Remy and Rogue. It's sorta I guess, my character analysis of each of them in a way, from what I get from reading fics and giving them a character based on what I've gathered from each of the characters. I like that you like the slow start. I had to write it slow because I love it when their relationship is slow and builds up. I'll probably have a time gap somewhere to make the plot move and get the Romy build up a little faster, but I think, you guys will have to wait 5-10 chapters or more for them to really sort out their problems and actually date. But I'll definitely have some bonding time and Romy moments in between and some awkward moments to spice things up and reveal what they feel for each other to themselves. And I'm a romantic too, and I really wanna write them together, but I wanna take things slow, it'll be worth it, though, I promise, because I've got some great ideas for when their relationship really hits full force. It's full of Romyness and all that stuff, it's totally worthy of swooning. I hope that I'm not revealing too much, but it will eventually come, the full blast of Romyness.

I love love at first sight, but I really wanted to write a strong story and I just like build up and I really hope that it makes my ficcie interesting. I really do wanna draw out their relationship and really show people from my perspective how their relationship progressed. I'm glad that you think I'm doing the Romy right, because I really value your opinion of these things and that also that you believe you'll be able to see the progression in their relationship.

Don't you just LOVE Our Lady Peace? They can't write bad music; it's awesome. They're one of my favorite bands, plus they're CANADIAN! Raine Maida is soooo hott. I love him. He's an awesome writer, singer and he's just hot. I love his voice. He's so sexy, like Remy; you know it wouldn't be bad to envision him as Remy. He cares about current world affairs. I know he's married to Chantal Kreviasuk and has a child and another on the way, but that's beyond the point. He's freaking amazing and Our Lady Peace is awesome.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the food fight. It was kinda a way I used to show the exuberance of the mutants and some interaction between the characters and get some coupling going on. I just had to have Remy dump food on Rouge because he's definitely one with enough balls to do it and he'd be able to get away with it too. I just thought it'd be an interesting way for them to interact, since they can get really explosive at times. I'm glad that you found this amusing.

I'm glad that you liked the bit of Rolo I snuck into that chap. That whole restaurant set up was something that I just came up with spontaneously. And I'm definitely trying to get the wheels in motion like a bunny on crack. Don't you love constitutional monarchies and the holidays that come with them? Go Queen Victoria. Interestingly the Queen will be visiting my province and hometown of Calgary, Alberta for our centennial.

Oh and weirdness...we suggested similar things for 'The Midnight Air' and ForbiddenScars is gonna try and appease us both in the same chapter. Weird. We really are brainmates...Anyways….thanks for the review Ishy, I always treasure them very much.

**Shadowcatfan89: **I'll really try to include more Kiotr, but I can't promise anything conclusive. They'll be a major Kiotr scene eventually that's planned out for the next chapter or the one after. I'll try to insert one just because you asked though. As for the Brotherhood, they make an appearance next chapter and I'm not sure if it'll be funny. It's gonna focus on Pietro and Wanda's relationship and how they're hanging in there after all their dad did to them. Although, the rest of the boys will be used a background for some humor, I guess. They will be part of the story though, since they are currently abducted by Stryker. Thanks for the review.

**Dannonspring: **Wow, thanks for the review and sticking me on your Favorites list…I'm so honored and well just over the moon when people actually do that. So thanks a whole bunch. I'm glad you liked the food fight and the way it turned out, not to mention the dialogue between Beast, Bobby, Jean and Scott…it was really random…it started with Bobby's little dialogue and then, I just let it run, and it turned out to be quite sarcastic…and I really wanted to show Scott and Jean as not being stuck up and really do liking to have fun too, and Beast to just be sorta fun loving and out of his lab environment, and Bobby's just too fun to pick on.

**A full summery to all those who've forgotten what has happened due to the time it took me to update and Thegambit23**: I'm glad you like this. Well since you're confused and can't remember what happened, I guess a short summery is in order due to how I didn't update for so long. The first two chapters deal with the perspective of both Remy and Rogue to each other on their first encounters, basically everything in the series. Chapter Three was about the boys infiltrating the X-Mansion and telling the guys about Stryker's plots and Remy's double agent status. Chapter Four dealt with the guys infiltrating Stryker's base, how they doublecrossed Magneto who was doublecrossing them and got the upper hand from him, since he had plotted to kill them and use them as martyrs to state his cause and that humans are cruel and heartless to mutants. They had died trying to 'save the mutant populous'. Chapter Four also showed some background to how Remy communicated with the X-Men who knew he was a double agent, how he revealed it to Piotr and John, John and Piotr's pasts, and how they settled into the mansion. It also featured some Remy and Rogue interaction. Chapter Five showed how the former Acolytes are settling in, how they tried to cheer up the X-Men who were down in the dumps and a conversation with Rogue and Remy's best friends respectively on how they felt about each other. Just some of my insights into Romy, I guess.

**Zahraa: **Well the reason that the Romy you're looking for which is the romantic fluff isn't there right now is because I really want to take the time to build up a relationship for them that comes from friendship first. It will be there eventually though Remy and his boys have just entered the mansion the previous night in my fic. And I just don't think it's realistic for them to be all over each other right away. It's not a love at first sight fic…I want to build on their relationship and let the readers watch my interpretation of how it grew into something more…the very beginning of their relationship. To me, a relationship doesn't just mean love, or your boyfriend or girlfriend; to me it's also about your friends, acquaintances and family. So their relationship is just about friendship right now…they're not really friends either right now, because they have to get to know each other. If you need to know more about the fic, read the author's notes. I'm really trying to show progression here. All the Romyness that you want will come eventually in later chapters. Although it is a Romy, I have an overall plot and other characters to focus on besides them, even if they're the main stars of the fic.

I'm taking things slow…but the Romyness that comes eventually will be good, I promise. I've got it all planned out. It's just that Remy and Rogue really do have a lot of angst that comes from the pain of their past, and they're not all that trusting of new people who get to penetrate the walls they've built around themselves…not many people would notice that about them in their inner circle even, but it's there. They've got too many issues to sort out and until they do, they can't really be a full couple.

I'm glad you found the last chapter funny and like the longness, and the Romyness will come, but it's really more subtle than all out fawning over each other…it's just the way I choose to write them. Just be patient. The Romyness is subtle, but it's there, I think, like in the way they talk about the other to their friends. Don't look at Romyness at just being the obvious, because sometimes the subtle stuff can be better because it shows what they think of the other and they reveal things to their closest friends that they wouldn't necessarily reveal to each other. I wanna write progression that's why there's not intense Romyness. And the first parts were more about their reactions and thoughts on each other…but Romyness will come in a big way…but I like subtleness in what they say or do to show some Romyness, okay? I hope that explains it to you.

**To ALL Readers:** Please read my author's notes if you're confused about something in my fic, it'd most likely be explained there. And if you're wondering why there's a lack of Romyness…I like to inflict my Romyness on you all subtlety such as in the ways they talk about each other to their friends. Plus I'm writing relationship progression here, it comes later. They just met up the night before in this story. Things take time. I won't be fielding any questions to do with the lack of Romyness from now on, so read author's notes…I put them there for a reason.

And now that I've totally bored you with my huge review responses…simba317 proudly presents to you….

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: OVERLOAD**

* * *

John couldn't help but think it'd been one hell of 24 hours. They'd flown around in Magneto's jet to many locales around to country to avoid detection by Stryker. They knew that Magneto wouldn't be too upset about his missing jet, since he'd probably figure that Stryker had taken it as evidence or something along those lines. They'd infiltrated the X-Mansion and dropped the bomb of Stryker's mutant annihilation plots and Remy's true intentions and goals to the unsuspecting X-Men. They'd also moved in with their former enemies, and outmaneuvered Magneto who still thought he had the upper hand. They'd tried rather successfully to cheer up their new teammates/housemates and joined up with them. It'd certainly been an interesting 24 hours, and it would only get more interesting. The ban to go outside had been lifted when they awoke, but few had ventured out in weariness of the situation as the threat of virus had left in the night, although the mansion was still locked up tighter than a nuclear missile silo. 

He was now outside of the infamous Danger Room, about to go into his first training exercise with Remy and Piotr along with the rest of the X-Men. He was a little nervous due to all the 'war stories' he'd heard about the place, but knew that he was a capable fighter. After all, not only had he faced the streets, he'd trained long and hard with Remy and Piotr when they were in Magneto's employment as well. However, he just couldn't help but remember how less death defying last night watching movies with the others was, then he would be facing momentarily in the Danger Room and the previous day's mission.

He had a lot of fun watching the extended version of the Fellowship of the Ring with Remy, Kitty, Kurt, Rogue and Piotr. The rest of the students had gone up to their rooms to do whatever they wanted, the rec room to play games or just to hang out together in the common room upstairs near their dorms. The Institute was like a crypt. Everyone was so tense and weary. Even amidst the laughter and action, it was half-hearted and an obvious mask to what everyone really felt about the capture of the Brotherhood, Acolytes and Morlocks. Some were good friends who they'd shared their lives with, and it was harrowing to think that they could be in the same situation that they were but just got off lucky. The instructors had gone to their private rooms, or in Hank's case, his lab, to look up more of the files they'd found in Stryker's base…

* * *

"_Leyt's wotch Laddah 48, mates," exclaimed the pyromaniac as soon as the six budding friends had decided to watch a movie on the big flat screen in the theatre room. _

"_NOOO!" Remy and Piotr immediately shouted loudly, startling Rogue, Kitty and Kurt. _

"_Woy noyt?" asked John dejectedly, "It's an emotional and stunning tribute and homage to foyrefoythers everywhere," he defended, "Moy dad is one," finished the flame lover with his whiney voice. _

"_What's so wrong with watching that film?" asked Kitty with innocent curiosity. John nodded with his eyes wide in an agreeing expression to the feline like girl. _

"_Uh…"said Remy disbelievingly with a slightly sarcastic tone, "every time we watch any movie dat involves firefighters, flames and explosions, y' always end up laughing like a maniac at all the good action or dramatic parts involving flames and start to get dat look in y' eyes and start lightin' things on fire. We nearly lost de entire base last time we watched Backdraft."_

"_I still don't unzherstand vhy youss vould vant to vatch a movie in vhich your 'precious flames' all die eventually," wondered Piotr. The others, namely Kurt, Kitty and Rogue wondered what had occurred at the Acolyte base to garner these boys such a seemingly strange friendship. They were each very different individuals who you would never expect to be companions, much less act like brothers. _

"_Oyt's a tragic movie…" whined John, "It teaches us all a lesson about loyfe, how everything must die like flames in the darkness…" he finished passionately, his hand over his heart._

_The others gave him a blank stare. _

"_Dere, see, we are NOT watchin' dat movie, homme," finalized Remy with an air of authority, being the eldest of the three boys. _

"_Jeez, mate, ya sure such tha fun outta things, sometimes," whined John trying to plead his case, "C'mon, don't ya guys wanna see Laddah 48?"he asked of Rogue, Kitty and Kurt._

"_Uhhhh…" said Kitty, Kurt and Rogue collectively, unsure of what to do as Remy and Piotr looked at the three of them with wide eyes, shaking their heads no and mouthing it as well. _

"_Umm…let's watch Moulin Rouge instead," suggested Kitty trying to be diplomatic. Piotr and Remy shot her grateful expressions. John looked dejected, but soon became happier at the mention of Moulin Rouge as he thought Nicole Kidman was beautiful as a red head as it reminded him of another favorite thing of his. _

"_A good choice," responded Remy enthusiastically, "it's a beautiful movie with funny moments and great singing and dancing."_

"_Oh absolutely," said Kitty, glad that someone was agreeing with her movie choice, "there's a beautiful love story, and it's so sad and tragic."_

"_Zhe sets and costumes are beautiful, and zhey dancing is certainly exquisite. It is an artist's masterpiece. Zhe backgrounds look like a fabulous painting, like a Monet or Matisse," said Piotr. _

"_Nicole Kidman is hot and on foyre, plus she's from down undah," breathed John as he flipped open his lighter and made a stunning likeness of her in flame from the opening scene of Moulin Rouge singing 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend'._

"_Dat she is," said Remy with a lecherous smirk, "De music, songs and singing are among de classics of songs from pop culture." _

_Rogue and Kitty rolled their eyes._

"_Swamp Rat, ya just wanna watch that movie because of all the hookers and scantily clad women," said Rogue venomously._

"_Aww, c'mon chere, I know you love that movie," said Remy with a very self assured expression. _

"_Maybe Ah do, maybe ah don't," Rogue responded not giving the Cajun an inch to go on, "and how would ya know what movies Ah lahke?"_

_Remy simply smirked and pointed to his head. _

"_Ya usin' ya empathy on meh," stated Rogue understanding, "Ah'd rather have ya not do that, thank ya."_

"_What d'ya have t' hide, chere?" asked Remy with a smirk waggling his eyebrows as Rogue rolled her eyes to the sky as the others watched them with amusement in their eyes. _

"_I din't use m' empathy on y', I jus' figured y' were a sucker for de tragedies," elaborated Remy. _

"_And how would ya know that?" asked Rogue with a raised eyebrow, trying to keep her front of nonchalance, but surprised that he could figure that out about her so easily. She wondered if he knew other things about her so easily. _

"_Y' not givin' dis thief enough credit," said Remy charmingly, "I am de best, afterall. It's not dat hard t' deduce t'ings from people, if y' just pay attention."_

"_Really," said Rogue skeptically, but still surprised that he could see that in her, when he barely knew her, a definite skill that he learned from the Thieves Guild, she ascertained. _

_Remy boldly moved to less than a foot away from her, inside her personal space. Rogue glared, not wanting to move to show her discomfort at his closeness. _

"_Really, chere," smirked the Cajun, "I know dat Kurt here, likes de gross out humor of the Sandlers, Farrels, and Stillers." Kurt nodded surpired. _

_De chat here likes de romantic comedies or just romance in general, movies like de Princess Bride, A Walk to Remember, Serendipity, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, non?" Kitty nodded dumbfounded._

"_Our Russian likes dramatic films dat make y' think and wonder what is happening, like Fight Club, A Beautiful Mind, Mystic River and Hotel Rwanda," continued Remy. Piotr nodded amusedly, finding humor in Remy's Sherlock Holmes style parlor games and Rogue's sour expression. _

"_Johnny Boy loves action flicks, like Mission Impossible, James Bond, xXx (Triple X, for those that don't know. I've never seen like half of the films mentioned, so yeah…), the Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean(mmm…Jack Sparrow), and some comedy and dramatic firefighter movies for de explosions and fires," said Remy as John nodded quickly with enthusiasm and a mischievous glint in his eye at the mention of flames. _

_By now Remy had finished his little speech, he had acknowledged each of the people mentioned at the time of his analysis and had kept in close proximity to Rogue as well who had her arms crossed resting her weight on one foot in the centre of the room as the rest of the mutants lounged on the couches and pillows in the room. _

"_Okay, so you're good at deducing things," said Rogue, "but it doesn't mean you're right about meh," she said defiantly. _

_Remy just smirked and said, "You're one for horror movies, too as well as the tragic ones, but only de ones dat are good and don't make you laugh. You like Buffy the Vampire Slayer because of the ironic tragic love dat she had with Angel and because of the whole vampire mystique dat y' have. Y' like Underworld for dat too and de fact dat dey have strong, independent women who are equals to men and can fight, like Eowyn."_

"_Besides, I think y'are like Satine," said Remy with a sad smile. _

"_Ya think Ah'm lahke a hooker," said Rogue, a little bit offended. _

"_No, just dat Satine's illness and de terms of her occupation kept her from de world, and trapped her in some place dat she couldn't escape from, making it impossible for her t' love someone and be around ot'er people, and for other people t' be around her and love her the way she needed. De rest o' dem loved her from a distance, never seeing who she really was, and she didn't let many into her heart. Y' kinda like her in some ways. Everyone's kinda stuck watchin' her as she gets hurt and falls, no one really knows how to help her, and she doesn't ask it of anyone either," said Remy.(I have no clue where that came from, it was totally spontaneous. I hope you like the analogy) _

_Rogue was stunned; Remy seemed to see within her walls, like no one else before. He knew her well, knew her complexities and darkness, her pain for they had walked the same roads. The Cajun could understand her like no one else and yet he for all he knew about her, he still didn't really know her. It was the same with her towards him as well. They knew each other's history like no other and could relate to it, like no other. Each knew the hardships and complexities of the other, but not the person on an everyday format, yet. _

"_I don't zhink ve should vatch Moulin Rouge, mein friends," started Kurt, taking the attention away from Rogue, who gave him a look of gratitude, he smiled slightly in return._

"_And like, why not?" asked Kitty, seeing what he was trying to do. _

"_Because zhat owner person of ze Moulin Rouge-" he started, but was cut off by Kitty. _

_Kitty put her face in her hands, shaking her head and saying, "Not this again."_

"_As I was saying," continued Kurt, "Zhe owner of zhe Moulin Rouge is played by she same man who plays zhe owner of zhe dude ranch in Malcolm in zhe Middle, Otto, who employs Francis, and it is a stereotypical portrayal of the German people and I as one of those German people who are poked fun at each veek, an highly offended by it. Zherefore, we should not watch any movie in which zhat actor is in, as it supports his continued portrayal insulting Germans on Malcolm in zhe Middle."_

"_Kurt, just because one little kid went up to you and asked if all Germans had night terrors does not mean that that portrayal of the German people makes everyone see Germans like that. It's just a stereotypical way that writers use to make people laugh, and I know you like totally love that show," said Kitty exasperated. _

"_I still refuse to watch zhat movie," said Kurt stubbornly. _

"_You're kidding, mate, royt?" asked John disbelievingly from his place lying upside down with his head touching the carpet, on one of the couches, flicking his lighter and observing Kurt with an incredulous expression. _

"_Nope," said Kitty and Rogue in unison shaking their heads. _

"_It's an age old argument that has yet ta be resolved for him, howevah, he can't stand to boycott Malcolm in tha Middle for it," responded Rogue about her brother._

"_Vell how vould you like it if your cultural background was stereotyped," rantegrd Kurt. _

_Kitty and Rogue shook their heads and groaned having heard this argument many, many times._

_Kurt ignored them and continued, "How would vould you like it Katzhen, if your former highly noticeable valley girl persona was made fun of? Or you Rogue, it's really not zhat hard to stereotype your accent and the Southern United States, you too Remy. You're not immune to ze easy French stereotypes zhat people give you, when zhey don't know wher you're from. And you, John, how do you feel when people categorize all Australians by using Crocodile Dundee or the Crocodile Hunter? Piotr, how do you like it vhen your Russian accent is constantly used in Hollywood to portray villains zhat always get it vrong, huh?" (The hole Moulin Rouge thing was started because I always knew that thing about Otto being that guy from Moulin Rouge, and just had to say that…and it fit in with Kurt…the analogy came later…and sorta flowed into it. I always thought Otto looked like that guy, but he's not)_

"_Steve Irwin is one tough buggah," shouted John, "so don't insult him and his crocodiles, they're like moy flamies, constantly being misundahstood."_

"_And uh…Kurt, Zidler is played by Jim Broadbent and Otto is played by Mannkusser is played by Kenneth Mars," said Rogue, effectively ending the argument, hopefully. _

"_How do you like, know that Rogue?" asked Kitty surprised. _

"_It's surprising what ya'll will do when ya little brotha goes on and on about stuff like this, just to shut them up," said Rogue. _

"_Ahh…" said everyone except Kurt. _

"_I am not zhe 'little' one, I'm taller zhen you now…and hey, zhat's mean!" whined Kurt, with a purplish blush, sounding every bit the younger brother, making everyone else present laugh. _

"_Ya know who else looks aloyke? Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman," shouted John, getting very excited. _

"_Well that's because Keira Knightley played Queen Amidala's handmaiden who posed as queen while Padme traipsed around Tatooine pretending to be the handmaiden the queen, like asked to accompany the Jedi to 'observe the local culture," explained Kitty. _

"_Did you know zhat vhen zhey vere in full Queen Amidala makeup zhat even zhere mozhers couldn't even tell zhem apart?" asked Kurt, rejoining the conversation after embarrassment. _

"_That's uncanny, mate," summarized John. _

"_Ya know, Ah always used ta have problems distinguishing Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon," said Rogue. _

"_I still do sometimes," agreed Kitty. _

"_Yeah…it's amazing dat dey look so much alike and yet, Wahlberg has a totally hilarious past. He used t' be Marky-Mark and was a rapper in the late 80s, early 90s. He wasn't even dat good. It was all relied on his music video for 'Good Vibrations' and de fact dat he was portraying someone who was tougher than he really was, used his den almost body builder-like body, supposed body strength and sexual references and themes in the music and de video, too. It's really quite laughable," said Remy with a smirk. _

"_He was Marky-Mark, mate? Well that explains a lot…" said John, deep in thought. _

"_Matt Damon is zhe bezher actor zhough," thought Kurt, "He's been in films vhich actually show his good acting skills, like in 'the Talented Mr. Ripley.' He vas so creepy," said Kurt. _

"_Da, he really vas, and it vas no surprise he vas nominated for an Oscar for zhat," said Piotr. (Betcha didn't know all that stupid movie trivia) _

"_Tha professah looks loyke Patrick Stewart," burst out John all of a sudden, causing all of the people present to look at him funny, think about it then come to a shocking conclusion. _

_Kitty was the only one who was able to speak after being stunned, "Omigod, yes. He so does look like Patrick Steward, doesn't he? It's so weird."_

"_Patrick Stewart and tha professah are tha only two people Ah know that can pull off tha bald look so perfectly for a white man," said Rogue. _

"_Dat is very true, chere. Picturing de professeur with hair, is frankly quite scary," said Remy. As he finished that statement all of them shuddered. _

"_Zhat is so vrong," said the usually stoic Piotr, stunning them out of silence from the horrible mental image. _

"_We should watch Dune," exclaimed John. _

"_No vay in hell," said Kurt, "Patrick Stewart vith hair is just so vrong and creepy…"_

"_I'd nev'r be able t' look at de professeur in de same way…" trailed off Remy. _

"_Vell, let's pick anozher movie, zhere must be one zhat ve can all agree to watch," said Piotr deciding to end the rants that the others had started before they got out of hand._

_Piotr went to one of the huge wooden shelves on either side of the room which boasted a rather impressive collection of movies from all genres and began to look for a movie that they could all agree to watch. Kitty took it upon himself to help him. The other mutants sat in the middle of the room talking as they let the two pick the movies as they were most likely to avoid conflicts if they did it, since Kitty and Piotr would be most considerate of everyone when picking a movie. _

"_Dumb and Dumber?" suggested Kitty, running her index finger over the spine of the case, "It's sure to make anyone laugh."_

"_True, but I haff seen it one too many times vith John and Remy," said Piotr rather fondly, remembering the separate occasions to which they had watched that particular movie. _

"_Vhat do youss zhink of Casablanca or Dangerous Liaisons?" asked Piotr, seeing the movies on the very top shelf. _

"_Oh they're wonderful," said Kitty, "but we just had a film noir marathon last week. It was fun."_

"_Hmm…Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?" suggested Piotr, "The choreography is simply beautiful as is the scenery and costumes. _

"_Yeah, but we had a Martial Arts movie marathon last month, so everyone's sorta all martial arts movied out," said Kitty. _

"_You seem to have many movie marathons," said Piotr amusedly. _

"_Yeah, we have one every two weeks here. It's a fun way of gathering everyone together to just chill, hang out and watch movies. It's sorta used as a time to really hang out as a group and sorta catch up with everyone. Because there's so many people here and all our schedules are different, it's kinda hard to really get together and spend time together. Everyone always comes, even though it's not required because it's so fun, even all the teachers," explained Kitty. _

"_It really appears zhat all of youss act as a family here," observed Piotr. _

"_Yeah, it really is like that, a really loud noisy, big extended family with new members always being discovered in the woodwork," said Kitty. _

_Piotr gave a genuine happy laugh at Kitty's comment. It was vibrating and warm and seemed to take up the whole room with it's happiness as Kitty noted. And it was there that she realized that she really wanted to help make the silent Russian laugh more, because when he did, it was such a beautiful sound, and he certainly deserved some happiness after what had happened to him. Kitty Pryde decided that she wanted to see to the Russian's happiness because he seemed the most reserved of all the boys, but also one of the more kind and caring people she had met in her short life and she felt that he deserved to feel happy. (I hope this Kiotr moment is good for you shadowcatfan89, I'm primarily a Romy fan, but I do love Kiotr, I just hope it's good)_

_Piotr felt that he would really come to like Kitty Pryde. She was wonderfully sweet and caring, and most definitely interesting. Whereas most girls named Katherine would choose to be called Kate or Katie, she had chosen to be called the much rarer and more interesting name of Kitty. She was seemingly always bright and cheerful, a rarity in the pain and tormented filled lives that all X-Men and mutants lived. She chose not to let the fear and intolerance make her angry and sad, she chose to live with it and make those around her happy when they needed it, case in point Rogue. She chose to make everybody's lives at the mansion as mutants and X-Men a little easier by being happy and cheerful and extending that cheerfulness to the rest of the people she surrounded herself with. She was not ignorant of all the issues they faced, nor did she ignore them, she simply chose to make those who were upset by them feel better, by making those around her feel better. _

"_Well, look, what we have here, the Princess Bride," said Kitty, "I love that movie, and I know that Rogue and Kurt love it too, they'll never admit to it either, but what do you think?"_

"_Yes, I like zhat movie as well, and so do Remy and Piotr for the sword fighting and classic lines, however, let's not," said Piotr. _

"_Why not?" asked Kitty confused. _

"_It vill fatten Remy's ego to no end that he did in fact guess one of your favorite movies correctly," said Piotr, which elicited a giggle from Kitty. _

"_Hmm…one of the Matrix movies…well maybe not, we've like seen them so many times, it's a bit of overkill," said Kitty._

"_Da, ve haff as vell," agreed Piotr as he and Kitty skimmed the shelves for a movie that everyone would want to watch._

"_Why don't we take a look at the other shelves?" thought Kitty as she and Piotr headed across the room to the adjacent shelves. _

"_Hmm…Pirates of zhe Caribbean, or is zhat overkill as vell. Ve have seen it many, many times," responded Piotr. _

"_Yeah, so have we…" trailed Kitty, as she stared at the back of a DVD. _

_She tapped it and asked Piotr, "what do you think?"_

"_Zhat shall vork, it has somethink zhat everyone will like," said Piotr looking at the film with a worshipper's eye as Kitty was doing as well. _

"_It's amazing," she said in awe. _

"_Yes," said Piotr softly, he too praising the film. _

"_Have ya mates found a film yet?" asked John somewhat impatiently. He and Kurt could only exchange jokes for so long as Remy and Rogue bantered yet again over some trivial issue that turned into an all out war of wits, which was very amusing, if not somewhat frightening, the things they could come up with to insinuate the other. _

"_Yeah," both said at the same time in a dazed voice. _

"_Which one we watchin', homme?" asked Remy. _

_He got no response. The others looked at each other curiously and decided to go see what the big fuss was about. _

_All four mutants then walked up behind Piotr and Kitty and crowded around them, which was a little hard considering Piotr's stature, scanning the shelves for the movie that they were so in awe of, when they all spotted it at once and all six mutants broke out into one awe intoned voice of, "LOTR," showing just how much of a LotR geeks they were. They then all looked at each other and nodded in ascent of the movie. _

_They handled the movie with exaggerated care and worship as they slipped the extended version of the Fellowship of the Ring into the entertainment system. Soon the eerie opening music began and all were sucked into the absorbing world of Middle-earth. _

_They talked softly throughout the entire movie, except at the dramatic parts. Remy and Rogue would banter every now and then and interact with the rest of the group as well. Everyone would stop to stare at John as he got a little excited over the scenes with Sauron's flaming eye or Minith Morgul. _

_Overall, it was an entertaining night and they were debating watching part of the Two Towers until Logan told them to go to sleep after the end of the movie or they'd get a double Danger Room session all of them, which pretty much sealed the deal for them…_

_

* * *

_

"How come your just vaiting here?" asked Kurt as he made his way to the Danger Room, as one of the stragglers with five minutes left before the session began, "you can go right in and Logan tends not to be happy if you're there right on time, he's only somewhat happy if you're at least two minute early."

"Oy'll keep that in mind then, for next time, then," started John, "I was just thinking about last noyt."

"Zhat vas fun, ve should plan to do it again to watch ze ozher two movies," said Kurt.

"Yeah," responded John as Kurt took the initiative and typed in the code to get into the Danger Room. The halls were steel and metallic, with stark white and blue accents here and there, making a very futuristic look for the sublevels where you arrive to from the highly technological elevator. (Look to the descriptions of this area from Chapters 3 and 4) The entrance to the infamous room was a circular sliding door with a large overlapping X with a circular portion in the middle with a glowing blue orb that scanned for unauthorized people. (imagine Cerebro entrance from movies) The key pad was on the wall next to the door. The entrance whirred and hummed as the right sequence was entered, a puff of smoke emerged and the door slide open, one portion with the glowing orb and another without, splitting the X in half.

John followed Kurt in awe as he entered the huge domed room where the others in the mansion were already congregated preparing for Logan to take attendance. The silver walls shined with brilliance and sparkled its years ahead technological imaging devices built as a gift from Forge. He looked up and saw the observation deck that was attached to the roof of the dome, made of dark metal on the bottom and crystal clear glass at the top for observing. Advanced computers lined the circular room and controlled all the central functions of the room. Thick comfortable leather chairs were situated at all the monitors.

"Alright, all X-Men," barked the feral X-Man, "line up!"

All the X-Men and the newly joined ones too, lined up in a straight row facing the gruff Wolverine. Storm and Beast stood off to his left and right respectively while Angel and Psylocke and Jean Grey and Cyclops stood off to the side, making it clear it was Wolverine, Beast and Storm who were running the show.

Even though Remy, John and Piotr had only joined the X-Men, their uniforms had already been redone in the format of all the other X-Men, though still similar to their older ones from Magneto's employment. Gambit had his trademark brown trench coat as well as headdress, and large black leather boots that were a cross between biker boots and combat boots and went up to his calves. He wore a pair of durable black cargo pants with a black leather belt with a silver X belt buckle that held many of his thieving tools and Bo-staff. A skin tight deep red spandex shirt covered his torso and arms, accentuated his well toned muscles. He wore a black vest like top over that that had many clasps and buckles and was made of sleek leather. A large red X spanned the length of it, the majority on his chest. He had black cuffs on his upper arms and black arm guards made of black leather buckled to his forearms. His special cut fingerless gloves had a red X on the back of his hands. The brown trench coat also had an X sewn across the back, but in the same fabric as the other parts of the trench coat and blended in well. His pockets hid many hidden objects that no one knew about except him, including many packs of his cards. His longish hair partially held back by his headdress covered part of his face and his red on black eyes glowed in anticipation of the challenge. His pouty lips were curved into that perpetual smirk of his. Logan was finding the complete lack of fear off him, a little startling when he smelled his scent, but was definitely not surprised as he knew Remy was practically fearless and admired that quality in him. (Remy's outfit is kinda similar to the one in X-Treme X-Men, I'm describing all their uniforms because the ones they had on Evo for the most part were stupid, asides from Tabby's.)

Piotr had a pair of olive colored army style cargo pants as well as a pair of shiny black leather combat boots. He had a black belt that held some of the X-Men's comm devices that they all had and a silver X belt buckle as well as a black muscle shirt with the body armor over it that was red and black. A large gold X was stretched across the chest. He had black cuffs on his upper arms with a golden X on it as well as wrist cuffs similar to Remy's. A black leather jacket with the sewed in X on the back blended in like Remy's completed his uniform. (It's a sorta cross between his classic comic look and Evo look, but without the tackiness of huge shoulder pads, and the brightness is toned down in the armor, it's more black than red, and not that he doesn't have nice legs or anything, but I just don't wanna see a guy wearing a speedo style thing fighting crime)

John still had his burnt orange jumpsuit with his flamethrowers and headdress with green goggles with him. However the jumpsuit had a large cornflower blue X on the front. He also had a black belt strapped to his waist with a comm device and silver X belt buckle as well as deep red gloves and knee high red boots. The jump suit was also padded for protection in battle as well as flame retardant so it wouldn't go on fire if he got carried away. (His outfit is mostly the same as the one in Evo, but slightly redesigned.)

Every X-Man also had a new uniform as their old ones had become out of date and impractical as new technology was put into the newer ones that were much more practical as outer wear than just plain spandex and could still blend in with the public in crowd situations, even with the large X's. Each member's belt had silver X belt buckle surrounded by a circle. (Like the ones the women wore in X2)

Rogue's uniform was a form fitting black body suit that looked like velvet and had an oriental style neck. Purple leather body armor with triangular tapered sleeves over her deltoids stopped just at her belly button and protected her vital organs. A shiny bright green obscured X similar to her old uniform was on her chest over her breasts and upper shoulder blades. She had purple and green arm cuffs on her upper arms as well as purple wrist guards and short green gloves on her hands. Over top, she wore a long dark emerald green jacket that went past her ankles a bit. On the back of it was a purple X sewn in. Slung on her hips was a purple belt with a silver X belt buckle and com device. Purple leather leg wraps went up to mid thigh and completing her outfit were a pair of large deep green boots that went up to her knees. They were a cross between combat and biker boots with purple accents and were padded and very comfortable.

Shadowcat's uniform consisted of a black tank top that had straps formed by a large lavender colored X that stretched the length of the top and bared a hint of her midriff. She had black arm wraps that went up her arms and stopped at her hands, held in place by being strapped to her hand behind her thumb. At the top of it was a baby blue X with lavender piping as well as the same on the back of her hands. She wore a pair of black bell bottomed pants with a baby blue colored X that was on each hip the upper arms joined to form a band of baby blue across the top of her pants, underneath a black band. They had a slit that went partway up to her calves that showed off her clunky blue boots with purple accents. She also had a purple jacket that went to her hips and flared at the sleeves with a blue X across the back and front. Her belt had the silver X as long as some of her computer tools.

Nightcrawler wore a dark blue leather jacket similar to Colossus with a red X on the front and back sewn in. On the inside he wore a dark red muscle shirt with a big deep blue X on it. He also wore a pair of arm guards and had a pair of slightly loose fitting black pants on with many pockets in them as well as the belt. The pants had a large red X encircling the seam of the pants. He had a pair of comfortable black boots with red accenting on that accommodated his strange feet.

Cyclops wore a black top with triangular sleeves over his deltoids that were part of the large blue X on it with gold piping. (sorta like the outfit he has in the future on Evo) He also wore a pair of black pants and large yellow boots with blue accents and a deep blue jacket with a large gold X across the front. His wrist cuffs protected his hands and a revamped version of his yellow visor was on his face and he wore the X-belt as well.

Spyke had a black top similar to Scott's except his X was red instead of blue. His gloves were fingerless and had yellow Xs on them. He also had a very large pair of baggy black pants with lots of pockets and a pair of chunky black and yellow boots. He had a large black jacket with a yellow X on the back that was open and loose on him as well as the belt that all the X-Men wore.

Jean Grey wore a off the shoulder black tank top with deep green body armor that went over like another tank top, it covered her chest, but left her shoulders free. A lime green X with black piping was over that and it was buckled with black straps at the side, and was shorter than the tank top that revealed a hint of midriff like Kitty's. She had black arm guards with a lime green X on the top of it. She had a pair of form fitting black pants on with a pair of chunky thigh high length boots that were padded and green in color with lime accents. A black colored X was on the knees. She wore a form fitting black leather jacket with slightly long sleeves and a green X across the back of it and the X-belt.

Havok wore a dark red jacket with a yellow X on it and a black top underneath with a red X and the same baggy pants that Evan, but in deep blue along with the special belt. He had arm guards that had red Xs on them and red boots with black accents on his feet. Berzerker wore a deep red form fitting jacket with a lime green X over top. He had a dark green top underneath with a gold X on it, as well as a pair of large black pants held up by the belt and lime green boots with red accents and black wrist cuffs with yellow Xs on it. Iceman wore a dark blue jacket with a white X on the front with blue pants and black boots with a black top with a blue X on the front as well. Cannonball wore a brown flight jacket with a white X on it, as well as a pair of goggles over his head. His black top had a white X on the front and pair of deep blue pants was stuffed into a pair of black combat boots. His gloves were black with a red X on the back. Sunspot wore a bright orange jacket with a black X on the front as well as a black top underneath with a red X on the front. He wore a pair of deep green pants similar to Piotr's and a pair of big black combat boots and gloves with yellow Xs on the front. Multiple wore a red jacket with a black X on the front with a black T-shirt with a red X on it. He also had blue gloves with black Xs on them and black pants with blue boots and the belt as well.

Boom Boom's uniform was similar to the one she had as a Bayville Siren, except it had a blue X over her chest and the X belt. She also wore a reddish purple jacket with a blue X on the back. Wolfsbane had on a brown tank top with a green X forming the straps that stretched most of the top, like Shadowcat's. She wore black pants like Jeans, but with boots similar to Tabby's except they were chocolate brown with green wrapped portions. She also had black arm wraps like Kitty's but with red X's at the top and bottom of it. An earthy brown coat went over top that had a black X on the back. Jubilee wore a blue off the shoulder top with a bright yellow X that went over her bare shoulders. She also had a pair of yellow thigh high boots like Jean that had pink and blue accents. She had black arm warmers with hot pink Xs on them. A yellow jacket hugged her frame and had a hot pink X on it. A pair of pink tinted sunglasses was on her head. Magma wore a pair of red pants that flared out with a pair of chunky black boots. She had a black tank top like Kitty and Rahne's but with an orange X with yellow piping along it. She wore a deep red jacket that went to her knees that had a black X on the back as well as black arm guards with yellow Xs on them.

Psylocke wore a short deep purple tank top that bared quite a bit of her stomach underneath black body armor like that of Rogue's that had a purple X on the front. She had on a pair of slightly loose black cargo pants with purple thread and a deep purple sash tied through the belt loops of her pants, with the X belt buckle slipped through. Her pants were stuffed into a pair of knee length chunky boots with darker and lighter purple accents. Her arm wraps were similar to Kitty's but with purple Xs instead. She wore a short purple jacket with a black X on the back to complete the outfit. Her swords was attached to her sash. Archangel wore a full black body suit like Pyro's only black with looser pants. A large red X went from his shoulders to part of his legs. He wore the belt and buckle as well as a pair of large black boots with red accenting on it. (It's very similar to the Evo look) He also had a pair of black gloves with red Xs on it. The suit perfectly accommodated his pure white wings.

Storm wore a top that covered her neck and chest, but left her shoulders bare, with a white X on the chest. She wore a pair of black form fitting pants and a pair of sleek black thigh high boots that were wedge heels with purple accenting on them. She hand black arm bands with purple Xs on them and white gloves that went a little bit past her elbows. She wore short fairly loose black jacket with white accenting and a purple X on the back and front that stopped at her navel and had sleeves that were three quarter length. (The jacket is pretty similar to the one she wore in X-Treme X-Men) It had a jet black cape attached with a white border and purple lining that had loops that attached to her wrists and also a hood with white accents and purple lining. She also wore the belt that the rest of the X-Men wore. She also had a long white sash tied around her svelte waist. (I kinda combined her current Evo uniform with the X-Treme X-Men one, but revamped it a bit)

Wolverine wore a top with triangular sleeves that had a blue X that was formed on part of his upper arms and chest. The tips of the X had a triangular stripe on either side that was yellow. He wore arms guards that went half way up his forearms that had a red band on it. His thick leather gloves went over the guards a little and had a red X on the backs of each hand and allowed his claws to easily slide out. He wore a pair of black cargo pants with the belt and a pair of large biker boots that went to his knees with many buckles. Beast wore a similar outfit that had a yellow X instead of blue with no stripes and a pair of fitted black pants with seams like Kurt's pants with a red X as well, except, it left his feet bare. He also had a pair of wrist cuffs that had a red X.

With this, the Wolverine began to take attendance in his gruff voice, barking out each name in an authoritarian tone, much like that of an army drill sergeant. As he called out names by his given nicknames, many rolled their eyes or looked mildly insulted to be called such annoying names.

"Wings." (Archangel)

"Here."

"Ape." (Beast)

"Logan, I'd rather you not…"

"Sparky." (Berzerker)

"Hey, man."

"Pop Rocks." (Boom Boom)

"Hey there, Badger!"

"Muscles." (Colossus)

"Da, comrade."

"Crash." (Cannonball)

"Presahnt, sir."

"Shades." (Cyclops)

"Here."

"Gumbo." (Gambit)

"Gambit be here."

"Red." (Jean Grey)

"Here."

"Ray Gun." (Havok)

"Yo, dude."

"Ice Cube." (Iceman)

"Hey! It's…"

"Firecracker." (Jubilee)

"Gift, Wolvie."

"Lava Lamp." (Magma)

"Present."

"Squirt." (Multiple)

"Present"

"Elf." (Nightcrawler)

"Present, Herr Logan."

"Brit." (Psylocke)

"Hey, luv."

"Psycho." (Pyro)

"President!"

"Stripes." (Rogue)

"Here."

"Half-pint." (Shadowcat)

"Gift."

"Porcupine." (Spyke)

"Here, man."

"Ro." (Storm)

"I am present, Logan."

"Sunshine." (Sunspot)

"Here."

"Werewolf." (Wolfsbane)

"Present."

"Good, everyone is here. Listen up. This is not going to be like typical sessions. This one will test all the skills you have gained in training and to see what you can do when left to your own devices. Chuck will be monitoring everything from the Observation Deck," barked out the Wolverine. Everyone looked up at the professor who was residing in the Obesrvation Deck above the Danger Room. His smiling eyes regarded each of the students and he gave a small wave. Several of the mutants waved back, which caused an amused smile out of the professor and a slight snort of annoyance out of Logan.

"Moving on," Logan hurried bring their attention back to the task at hand, "This will be a true challenge of all the skills you have learned and will be a complicated procedure, so I hope you are all LISTENING." At this, everyone straightened up, so as not to infuriate the wrath of the Wolverine.

"You will be divided into teams of three from my choice. Your team's objective is to retrieve a flag from a hidden locale in a maze, but you must first overcome many challenging obstacles as we are from this point on preparing ourselves so that we may come out on top against this new threat," he barked, as he strolled down the line staring into the eyes of each of his trainees.

"These obstacles will include the standard Danger Room ones, lasers, disks, saws, randomly rising barricades and walls, spikes, et cetera, as well as environmental hazards from different simulations and situations as well as droids and robots with an arsenal of weaponry. This will be a battle royal as you will all be in the maze together, but starting at different points. To win, you must make sure all teams have been eliminated before bringing the flag to the center of the maze, in a specified area which will be the winners' circle. You may not use your powers in any way to retrieve the flag, but may use them, once in your possession to bring it to the circle. If you bring the flag to the middle, but there are still teams left, then they will fight you for the flag and elimination of their opponents to win. A team may still go on if members are eliminated from competition, and are not out unless all members are out. To eliminate a person, you must immobilize them. The final battle will take place in a battle mat, and if you step out of the mat, you will also be eliminated. There will be a power negation zone surrounding the hidden flag, once it is located, where you may not use your powers in any way what so ever to retrieve it. The flag is located in one of four similar room like structures surrounding the center, that must be navigated to, in the maze. Teachers and instructors, I, Storm, and Beast, will wander the maze as free agents and dispose of as many people as possible as well. To win, all of us must be down and you must be in possession of the flag when you win the final battle for it to count. Chuck will be the refereeing the competition and will call who is out from the competition. Winners will be excused from the weekday 5am session for two weeks. Oh and anything goes," finished Wolverine with the rules.

"Any questions?" yelled Wolverine to all participating. No one answered and he continued.

"The teams will be as follows:

Team 1: Gambit, Colossus, and Pyro;

Team 2: Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat;

Team 3: Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Iceman;

Team 4: Berzerker, Spyke, and Boom-Boom;

Team 5: Cannonball, Sunspot, and Multiple;

Team 6: Jubilee, Wolfsbane, and Havok;

Team 7: Magma, Psylocke and Archangel.

Everyone got that?" he followed. Everyone nodded.

"Good, break into groups and listen to further instructions on where to start," he finally finished in a gruff authorial tone.

* * *

"You ready, Rogue?" asked Shadowcat. 

"Yes. Kurt?" questioned Rogue.

"Ja, and Keety?" asked Nightcrawler.

"Yup. Good, everyone's ready," finished Shadowcat, as they all took a ready stance, just seconds before hearing the starting horn.

At the sound Rogue, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, along with other unseen teams entered the maze. The three of them stalked quickly into the metallic walls of the maze. As soon as they entered the walls shimmered and became black, pitch black. The three of them huddled the walls and stayed close, traveling the length, their breathing slow and even. A faint hum was heard. Kurt's blue pointed, elf ears twitched.

"Hear zhat?" he whispered.

"N- Wait…" started Kitty, as the hum was heard again, slightly louder. Suddenly a red light began to flash and grow in intensity, blinding them momentarily in the darkness.

"MOVE!" shouted Rogue as she pushed both out of the way just in time as a laser impacted with the wall, creating a large crater in the metal, where they all were crouched against just a moment before.

As they lay momentarily, spikes began to surface in a wave like fashion, inching closer and closer towards them. Luckily, Nightcrawler reacted quickly. He grabbed both girls and teleported with a loud BAMPF!

They found themselves at the lip of the wall, cushioning a launching area, about 20 meters away from where they were before, where the sharp metal disks were flung. The air whizzed around them as sharp metal disks were hurled from their dispensers. Shadowcat quickly held on tight to her friends and phased them all, so that the disks flew harmlessly through each of their bodies. She then phased through the launchers making them useless.

"I alvays hate zhe feeling of zhings flying zhrough me," whined Kurt.

"Well next time, I leave you to be sliced to pieces," responded Kitty.

"Guys, knock it off, there's someone coming," Rogue whispered. From their spot from the top of the wall, hidden in the shadows, they could see Magma, Psylocke and Archangel approaching, under the heavy fire of droids, spikes, moving barricades, lasers, and other explosives. They had just survived the high seas adventure of being in the crossfire of a pirate attack on a British fleet, where they had to fight their way to shore to get further into the maze.

"Let's vait until zhey get tired, ja?" suggested Kurt.

Both girls nodded and they watched the team fight, waiting for the opportune moment to strike, but strategizing quietly in the meantime. They decided that they had to sneak up on Betsy and take her out first as she posed the biggest threat, being telepathic, trained with ninja skills, and having psionic blades.

"Ah hope you guys have strong mental shields," said Rogue.

"Don't worry, we've all been training with the professor on them, after Mesmero and Apocalypse," explained Kitty, as all of them, except Rogue who had developed exceedingly strong mental shields, had been trained by the professor extensively to make sure another telepath would not possess them for their questionable goals.

"Ve'll haf to make zure zhat Psylocke is distracted, and sneak up on her," said Nightcrawler, scanning the exciting battle beneath them.

"Yeah, how 'bout Shadowcat phases meh down, and Ah zap her out of the battle," suggested Rogue.

"Yeah, then Nightcrawler should bampf down and get the jump on Archangel and Magma before they try to help Psylocke," continued Shadowcat.

Once they had all agreed on the plan, they watched the three in the shadows as they battled the droids, and other weaponry of the danger room.

Psylocke's twin blades sliced through another droid as Magma melted more lasers and other weapons launchers as Angel took out anything in the air.

Utilizing her training as a ninja, Psylocke gracefully took long strides and ran, then leapt into the air, doing a flip, before bringing her twin blades down to strike down several droids. She spun on her heel and slashed even more robots behind her. Her adrenaline was pumping and she had a mystifying dance going. Her long dark purple orchid colored hair whipped across her face momentarily from her pony tail as she turned quickly and destroyed even more of the machinery. She dodged the mechanical punch and gave on herself with the added touch of her psionic blade piercing it. Her breathing was steady, she was in her zone. She struck them down before they could fire at her. She spun her swords into a complicated pattern and hacked the onslaught to pieces. Growing annoyed with the onslaught, she enabled her telekinetic powers and directed focused energy directly into the mass of the robotics.

Magma summoned her energy and began to superheat all those that opposed her and her team, they melted at her insistence. She dodged a laser blast from one of the machines and melted with her power. She went into her lava form and made the machinery she touched with her hands melt to useless chunks of hot metal and tossed the scalding, molten metal at other robots and watched it as it melted holes into them, disabling them permanently. She went into her fighting stance and with her heated hands punched holes into the droids, melting a few parts of them instantly. She fought in the way that she had been trained by both Wolverine and her bodyguard in Nova Roma. Her punches had improved and were quicker and more accurate. Each hitting motion would bring forth strands of lava streaming off from her arms due to speed. She had awhile to go on training, but it was getting there.

Magma saw a wave of droids descending upon herself and Psylocke. She approached her side, and after a quick nod of acknowledgement, they both sent out their energy. Psylocke directed hers in the form of a purple-pink telekinetic direct energy blast, and Magma in the form of a superheated wave, sending up flame coursing off along with some lava from her glowing form. They then began to team up, and started to create quite a dent in the onslaught. Psionic blades and the glistening form of Magma casting an ominous glow in the darkened hall. Little did they know, three pairs of eyes watched them intently, waiting for the perfect moment to take them out.

(I really hope that no one minds, but I'm gonna up Warren's powers a little, by giving his wings razor sharp feathers that he can shoot. I mean he was at one time able to shoot metallic a practical poison, in the comics. Let's just say that certain feathers have sharp pointed tips on each of those fuzzy strands off a feather…real scientific, I know, I can't remember what they're called. You know how birds have feathers for flight, and others for warmth or down, let's just say that Warren's the same way, and that not all his feathers are soft…some are razor sharp, but only when he shoots them off, and they're surrounded by soft ones, for his protection…I just wanted to give him a few more powers because well, he can literally only fly around, asides from some other nifty physical mutations and a slight healing ability. UXN is a great info sight)

Archangel provided aerial cover for the two ladies below him by taking out anything in the air. He grabbed a floating laser launcher and flung it at anther causing the two to be taken out as it impacted with the ground. His huge wing span shimmered in the light as the pure white features reflected the little light in the hall. He saw several flying droids come his way and launched a barrage of sharp feathers at them causing them all to become useless as feathers became impaled in important parts. He then flew close to the wall, not noticing the darting eyes of a rival team and pulled out several guns and lasers from their turrets. He dove down through the air, angling his massive wings, for better speed and upon pulling up grabbed several droids and lifting them high into the room before dropping them onto the ground, taking many of them out of commission due to the impact.

Archangel continued to fly around the space, doing what he could to ease the onslaught of droids from overwhelming them. Magma and Psylocke had once again been separated by the tide of the droids and had gone to separate corners to fight them off. Both were surrounded and it was now that the three of them in the darkness of the shadows found the perfect opportunity to strike for Psylocke was poised along with her team with the never ending task of taking out all the droids.

"Take my hand," breathed Shadowcat, as Rogue ungloved a hand and shoved the glove into a pocket inside her jacket. She took Shadowcat's hand with her gloved one, and Shadowcat phased them through the metal of the walls, and under the floor, just below Psylocke preparing to jump her.

Nightcrawler waited a few minutes before disappearing in a quiet bampf and a puff of purple smoke with the scent of brimstone, the noise obscured due to the sounds of battle below. He had anticipated the direction in which the winged mutant would fly.

Just before the fuzzy blue mutant reappeared, Rogue and Shadowcat emerged quickly silently from the floor, still partly phased in the steel ground directly behind an unsuspecting Psylocke, as she pummeled the ranks of the robots. Shadowcat made Rogue's ungloved hand tangible, and just as Psylocke sensed something behind her, Rogue's bare hand made contact with her exposed cheek, and Psylocke began to instantly weaken before falling unconscious in a heap to the cold metal floor. The sneaky pair instantly became intangible once more and slipped back into the floor as if they were never there in the first place.

Magma had seen Rogue and Shadowcat emerge and was about to make her way towards them to assist her teammate, when all of a sudden, a sharp yell sounded from above, distracting her.

Archangel too, had seen the pair emerge from the ground and was quickly approaching his love to assist, but let out a shocked yell, when he felt a large weight on his neck, shoulders and face shortly after a bampf, making him lose control of his flying out of surprise, and let out a yell of shook, before falling in a heap to the ground, where he was shocked unconscious by a taser. Nightcrawler teleported away moments before the angelic mutant collided with the floor and avoided the taser as well as a hard landing.

Carrier droids removed the unconscious Psylocke and Archangel from the battle by carrying them to a section in the wall, which opened up, letting them enter, before closing seamlessly again. They would be transferred to the med lab until they woke up.

Magma suddenly felt panic seize and overtake her, but swallowed it down before it would overwhelm her. She told herself, that she could do this by herself, she was to lead her people after all, she thought, she could do this. She continued to blast away at the droids and keep her senses sharp for an attack by her fellow teammates, but current rivals. She scanned her surroundings constantly, going over every detail in her head and quickly, too, but always keeping the droids back. She took calming breaths.

Suddenly, the floor in front of her became intangible and all the droids fell though the floor and became stuck in the metal as it became tangible again. Magma looked around, knowing that they had to be near. The last thing she saw before her world became black was Rogue emerging from the floor behind her and before she could react, the mutant utilized Psylocke's stolen powers and leapt into the air, activating a glowing psi-blade from her ungloved hand before plunging it into Magma's exposed neck causing her to slump to the floor instantly unconscious.

"Vell, zhat vas easy," said Nightcrawler amicably as he teleported in front of his sister with an infectious smile of victory, just as Shadowcat surfaced from the slippery steel of the Danger Room.

"Nahce going Kit, you've really improved, what with phasing all tha droids into the ground," praised Rogue.

"Thanks," said Kitty with a slight blush.

"Ja, it vas very good," said Kurt as he put his hand on her shoulder in a job well done.

"You sense where the next team is, Rogue?" asked Kitty of Rogue's temporary powers.

"Let's see…" said Rogue as she concentrated on Psylocke's telepathy, "Well, Cyclops, Iceman and Jean Grey are close, but Gambit, Pahro, and Colossus are nearer to them and are taking care of them. They're mahnds are reallah strongly blocked, so Ah can't reallah sense them. Cyclops and Jean's mahnds are really strongly guarded too, especially Jean's but not as strong as the boys', and Iceman's still got a long time to go with his mental blocks." She had discovered all this from just getting the surface thoughts and mental projections from Iceman with very little probing.

The three of them had started walking and had reached a fork in the maze. The right seemed to lead off to a grassy meadow with clear blue skies, with the metal walls fading into a worn brick wall covered with ivy, to the right was a dark mysterious forest with the steel walls fading into draping branches and leaves of an opened canopy of trees that blocked out the light from the moon.

"Well, no one seems to be going in this dahrection," said Rogue pointing to the right at the forest and there seems to be less weaponry to worry about."

"Jubilee, Havok, and Wolfsbane are in tha meadow, but are dealin' with Storm and Beast, and are getting whipped," finished Rogue with a grin, causing Nightcrawler and Shadowcat to laugh slightly just as Psylocke's powers faded into nonexistence in her body once more.

* * *

Havok couldn't believe their luck. They'd moved past two rather difficult phases in the maze as well as navigating past a few dead ends successfully and just as they'd disposed of another batch of droids and weaponry, and everything they'd done so far was starting to pay off, Beast and Storm had shown up and were currently showing them their inexperience. After all, they'd been a cohesive team and that's what had easily gotten them through the obstacle of mysteriously rising metal barriers as they emerged and submerged and different spots in the maze. 

Mostly he was slightly disappointed because he was Scott Summers' younger brother and it was quite a reputation to live up to... okay, yes, he was slightly shadowed by his great brother, but he still wanted to impress him. So he really wanted to last longer in the challenge. And darn it, they'd been so good up to this point. The robots were in a pile of charred scrap metal due to his blasts and Jubilee's firecrackers, and everything else had been hacked to pieces courtesy of Wolfsbane, so well that Wolverine would be proud. But he would not go down without a fight, no matter how bad it got, and he knew Wolfsbane and Jubilee wouldn't either, because damn it, they had pride.

Storm and Beast were easily distracting them and adverting their attention by constantly bouncing around, in the case of Beast or just splitting them up with excessive strikes of lightning a la Storm. Once Havok got a good aim of Storm from above, Beast would come in and knock him over, and before he could strike Beast, he'd be dodging lightning, while Beast would tangle with Rahne, and when Rahne was about to get in a good swipe, he'd dodge and cause her to ram into Jubilee, while Storm would cast lighting down upon them from the sky. The wind would build up and a storm would commence, making it impossible for Wolfsbane to jump at her, or Jubilee or Havok to shoot her down.

Beast being heavier and able to cling to the ceilings had no problems navigating around in the gale force wind, while the rest clung onto various places in the maze while Storm floated above them forcing an onslaught of wind. Suddenly, Wolfsbane felt a strong pressure at the side of her neck, and then it was dark. She had been forced to unconsciousness when Beast applied pressure to one of her pressure points. While Beast apprehended Wolfsbane, Havok and Jubilee stole a silent glance at each other and made a plan. At one precise moment, they both aimed their power at Beast who slumped over Rahne at the end of their power display. However, while they were doing this, Storm had cornered Jubilee with some of her bolts, and she knew it wouldn't be long until the Storm took her down.

"Havok," called Jubilee, "Go on without me, you can still win for the team."

As she finished, she was shot down by one of Storm's bolts, and that was enough for Havok to bolt out of there. _I'm on my own now, but I can do this, I can do this. I just have to think smart and keep a level head. Don't get cocky, pace yourself, Havok. You can do this,_ he thought. All the while Storm's lightning bolts were on his tail, he kept running. He looked behind to see how far Storm was. He didn't see the barrier rising from the floor, and ran into it head on, knocking him out instantly. Above him, Storm cringed. No matter how many times you saw cartoon worthy crashes in the Danger Room, it was still painful.

* * *

"Man, if I see another trimmed shrub of a dancing elephant, I sear, I'm gonna mutilate it," said Spyke as he Berzerker and Boom Boom wandered a section of the maze made completely of stone walls covered in vines with the occasional cut shrub figure, the majority of them strange dancing elephants. 

"They're just really creepy," said Berzerker eyeing the leafy animal in a ballerina pose with one leg up in the air and arms above its head. They even had tutus. It was rather disturbing.

"Aww…are the boys afraid of the dancing elephants?" teased Boom Boom, pinching their cheeks like little boys. Berzerker and Spyke looked at her digusted, causing her to laugh.

"Oh, c'mon they're kinda cute, and endearing in a novel kinda way," said Boom Boom rather unconvincingly.

Both boys gave her a yeah right look. The three then continued down the path. Their road had been pretty easy so far, a few droids and weapons to take out before they entered this portion of the maze.

Suddenly, there was a loud trumpeting sound. The three of them looked behind them to see…

"You gotta be kidding me," commented Ray, his eyes wide.

…a line of dancing elephants approaching them menacingly; they meant business.

"Whoever programmed this is on something, man," said Spyke as he shot down a few elephants with his bone spikes.

"This is stupid," said Tabby throwing several explosive orbs into to middle of the ballerina ranks.

Then, the elephants began to dance, a creepy line dance. As they approached the three teenagers, they used their dance to inflict injuries on them with kicks, throws and lunges.

"Oof, this is ridiculous," said Ray, as he got a knee to the stomach. Deciding he'd had enough, he summoned the electricity around him and shot several arcs into the brigade of dancers, frying them upon contact. Soon, all three teamed up and shot their powers at them, Berzerker, his electricity, Boom Boom, her exploding orbs, and Spyke, his bone spikes. They finished the strange elephants and were on their way. Suddenly, darts began to shoot out from the wall.

"Here, I'll blow the walls, 'Zerker, you protect us with a couple bolts, and Spykey, you cover the two of us with your bone plates," said Tabby, taking charge.

The two boys complied and the three got through the dart section, no worse for wear. They got past the shooting spears in the same way. When a large rolling ball headed down the maze, Indiana Jones style, the three of them combined their powers and destroyed it.

"Alright, boys, we're hella good!" screamed Tabby gleefully as they finished blasting the ball to smithereens.

"Hell yeah!" agreed Berzerker as he and Tabby exchanged a high five. Both were laughing, a mixture of adrenaline and elation at getting far in the maze.

"Uh, guys…" started Spyke.

"Yeah, what?" asked Boom Boom, giggling with Berzerker.

Evan simply caught Ray's attention and pointed to an approaching figure from the sky.

"Oh, shit," said Berzerker at the approach of one Storm.

"Auntie O is so gonna fry me for that last vase I broke, when she explicitly told me not to 'board in the house," said Spyke pathetically.

"No kidding, Pointy, good luck, I'm sure she won't fry you too badly, considering you're blood and all," said Boom Boom with a bright mocking smile, causing Spyke to groan.

"Guys, I'd hate to interrupt this, but Storm is awfully close, and getting ready to blow us literally to kingdom come and smite us with her lightning," said Berzerker eyeing the fast approaching figure, "so why don't you guys get some cover, since I'm the only one who'll survive the fry."

"Okay, man," said Spyke, quickly pulling Boom Boom along with him to hide under the hedges.

Berzerker took a few deep breaths and prepared to face off with Storm. Her eyes were an illuminated iridescent white glowing in the grey light from the sky. Her hair was askew. Her arms were above her in a graceful fashion, as if to direct her beautiful brand of chaos. She floated in on air, wind whipping her cape and sash which became tussled in the wind. She was a goddess prepared to deal out her smite.

She began her wrath by sending her spikes of lightning to destroy the walls and hedges of the maze, just as she was about to destroy the hedge where Boom Boom and Spyke hid, both rolled out of their hiding spot and Tabby threw up a bunch of orbs while in mid roll, causing Storm's aim to become off and indeed fry her nephew who was out instantly from the shock.

"Sorry, Pointy," whispered Boom Boom with a cringe.

"That is one fried porcupine, if I ever saw one," commented Ray at the steam emanating off their teammate.

"Naturally, 'Zerker," said Boom Boom as she shot a handful of orbs at Storm, causing the mutant to veer and her aim to go off once again.

"I'm sorry, Evan," replied Ororo, softly to her fallen nephew.

"Hey, Boom Boom, keep doing that, keep her in the air so she doesn't get any cover, and I'll absorb as much energy from her bolts as possible, then, I'll beam 'em at her, hopefully enough to make her lose consciousness," said Berzerker. He knew that Storm couldn't get electrocuted, and he knew that neither could he, but that didn't mean that a good enough shock wouldn't knock them out. His power was primarily storing and releasing electricity, while Storm wielded it, so he figured she probably wasn't made to store max amounts of it in her body, which was what he was going to try to do.

Boom Boom busied herself launching as many orbs as possible, while Storm tried to obscure this with her bolts, Berzerker would block and absorb each one aimed for Boom Boom and any stray ones as well. This went on for a good twenty, twenty-five minutes.

Boom Boom was starting to feel the strain of shooting so many of her orbs and Ray was beginning feel overwhelmed by the amount of extra energy in him, he felt like he would burst any moment, and knew he had to let it out before it became too much, but both persevered. Berzerker continued to block Boom Boom with his body and absorb more electricity, while Boom Boom continued her volley of orbs at Storm. Both didn't know how much longer they could do this. Several long moments passed, and Berzerker felt like he would throw up, explode or faint. Boom Boom wasn't too bad, she felt like she had run several miles due to the amount of energy she had used up making the exploding orbs, but she could last awhile while Berzerker looked like he'd drop at any moment from all the energy he'd absorbed that was just waiting to come out.

Finally, five minutes later, when he could stand it no more, Berzerker raised his hands, his face drawn in a strained expression, and let forth the largest burst of electricity he'd ever done in his life. The yellow explosion of energy burst out in a large orb from his hands at such a speed, not even Storm could dodge it. Boom Boom vaguely thought it reminded her of something she'd seen on Dragon Ball Z. The energy blast was huge and encapsulated Storm in a direct hit of fury. Berzerker let out all the electricity he'd absorbed from Storm into the shot, and after a good five or more minutes of a steady stream, just as the energy was weakening and wavering, Storm fell from the sky and into a net which pulled her from the Danger Room to recover, a droid did the same for Evan.

Relieved and elated, both teens fell to their knees. They'd just defeated one of their teachers.

"That, Ray-Ray was amazing," praised Boom Boom.

"Thanks, I felt like I was gonna puke," explained Berzerker.

"Good to know, 'Zerker," said Tabby in mock encouragement and a roll of her eyes.

"You're welcome," said Berzerker with a smile, equally sarcastic, causing Tabby to shake her head, "we'd better get going again. We're one man down, but hey, I know that if we're careful, we can win this."

"Yeah, we could, especially after that display, we'll get to sleep in for two blessed weeks," said Boom Boom, as she and Berzerker got up and began to move deeper into the maze.

"Amen to that, sister," said Berzerker as they walked in amicable silence towards the complicated network of crisscrossing bridges and platforms suspended over a large body of water that continued the maze.

* * *

"Whoa, look at that," called Multiple pointing to the sky. A beam of electricity enlightened the darkened jungle they were in. 

"Wow, ya shore don't get that in Kentucky," replied Sam.

"Or in Brazil," said Roberto, who was in his element in the jungle like landscape.

The three boys had just finished battling the wilds of the Brazilian rainforest, complete with angry natives and even angrier animals, not to mention the multiple assaults of droids and various weapons, and even armed thugs before entering the foliage of the rainforest. They watched enthralled as the light increased in power for some time, before evening out to reach maximum power for a few moments and then wavering and dispersing at about the same time Storm had fallen.

"Ah suggest we go ovah there and check it out, as it seems whoevah caused that beam, whould've lost quaite a bit of energy bah now," suggested Cannonball.

"I agree," (I'm not even gonna try a Brazilian accent, I've never heard one, and I just don't wanna hafta write another accent, I can't even remember Amara having one and their both from Brazil…so no accent to write, if you want, just imagine one) said Sunspot, "I think it's Berzerker shooting up that beam, although we should be careful, don't wanna end up like Storm there."

"I really don't wanna be at the end of that," said Jamie, "should we sneak up on them?"

"That's a good idea, Jamie," encouraged Roberto, "I'll definitely be willing to go up against Berzerker." The two were good friends, but with a healthy rivalry.

And so, the three boys made their way in the direction of the beam, knowing that they'd run into Berzerker's team sooner or later. As they made their way through the jungle, they took out the occasional obstacle, weapon or droid.

Abruptly, they left the jungle, and entered a simple metal section of the maze, consisting of nothing but metal walls and floor. That was when they were caught by the arsenal of weapons, including lasers, gun turrets, metal disks, explosives and knock out gas. The weapons all fired at once and the boys had no time to prepare.

"Multiple, look out," shouted Cannonball, but it was too late, Multiple had been knocked unconscious with one of the lasers, he didn't get close to Sunspot in time who had flamed up and was making an effective shield for himself and Sam. A droid retrieved him and took him out of the challenge.

"Listen, Cannonball, we'll try to take out as many of the weapons as possible," instructed Sunspot.

"Ahright, aftahwards, Ah'll fly us outta here when enough of tha weapons are down, agreed?" said Cannonball.

With a simple nod of his head, Sunspot sent Cannonball in a flying frenzy, destroying anything in his path along the way. With his own powers of strength and blasting, Sunspot also cleared the section of the weapons, and soon there were none left. They dispersed all the weapons in about twenty minutes. Not giving them time to reload, Cannonball swept Sunspot up by his armpits and flew him out of the section at breakneck speed, and it took all of Sunspot's control not to hurl at the speed they were going at. Cannonball sped them both in the direction of the earlier blast of lightning. As they reached a wall, Sam lowered Roberto and the two of them continued on foot, looking effectively for Berzerker and his team.

* * *

"Ray-Ray, give me a leg up," said Tabitha, "we'll get a better outlook on the maze from above." The two remaining teammates were on one of the many platforms connecting the bridges, all the platforms had a roof over top as did some of the bridges, some were made of completely of wood, while others were simple rope and wood suspension bridges from cartoons. On one side were cliffs and their ticket further to the center of the maze, and to the other side was another cliff where they'd fought Storm and lost Spyke, there was also a fork which leads to another cliff, where it looked to be straight metal. 

Ray easily hefted Tabby onto the roof of one of the platforms, and Boom Boom giving him an arm up in return.

"Well, it looks like we'll make it if we go straight that way," said Ray, pointing to his right, "and if we jump across some of the platforms and bridges that don't connect. We could use some wood and rope from the bridges that we don't need to cross to get there."

"Nice plan Ray-Ray, and there sounds to be a battle goin' on in that fork over there, that just started, so another team should be here soon, so we should hurry up," finished Boom Boom.

They helped each other climb down, and using their powers, broke off wood and rope to help them cross the non-connecting platforms. They took several beams of broken off wood, and tied them together with rope, using special knots, effectively making a strong plank that would be easy to walk across that was two and half feet wide. Both of them then placed the plank over the railings, and holding one side still, Berzerker waited for Boom Boom to cross their make-shift bridge, before walking across himself with Boom Boom holding the plank still for him on the other side. They continued on for quite some time this way until they were three-quarters of the way across the water, about a hundred feet from their final destination on the other side.

"Almost there," said Ray after crossing many a bridge and walking across the plank, as well as hefting it wherever they went.

"We're so close, Ray-Ray," said Tabby, panting slightly.

"Oh shit," said Berzerker all of a sudden.

"What, 'Zerker?" asked Boom Boom, only half listening.

Berzerker, simply caught her attention and pointed to the blur in the sky that was Cannonball and Sunspot moving at breakneck speeds.

"We'd better hurry then," said Boom Boom, "We don't wanna draw attention to our position, so we'll just continue on quickly and fire shots when they get closer."

Berzerker nodded and positioned the plank for Boom Boom to cross. As they crossed three more platforms in this fashion and sprinted across a few bridges, while lugging the plank, they knew it was a race against time, and the other team was almost upon them.

"Hey, there's Berzerker and Boom Boom," noticed Roberto from his position in the air, due to their unique hairstyles, namely Ray's Mohawk and Tabby's half blonde half black hair.

"I'll fly us there, and we'll engage in battle, to save us trouble later on," said Cannonball and Sunspot complied.

Berzerker and Boom Boom got into fighting stances as their two opponents neared. Just before they were about to land, they both fired shots at Cannonball, who in the onslaught of exploding orbs and Berzerker's now charged up bolts, thanks to Storm, dropped Sunspot onto an open platform. Before Sunspot could recover, Boom Boom broke the platform across from them, where Sunspot landed in a heap, with her exploding orbs, causing it to collapse and Sunspot to fall into the cold water below. Before Sunspot could recover, Berzerker did as planned and charged the water below, causing Sunspot to lose consciousness, effectively ending his part in the challenge. A floating droid immediately removed Sunspot from the water to where he could recover.

Cannonball had circled the area after he dropped off Sunspot in the onslaught. Everything happened so fast, and he was unable to help Sunspot as he fell, so he couldn't reach the boy in time as Berzerker charged the water. So he decided to take out one of the two teammates from battle.

He flew to take out Ray, but Berzerker began shooting him with bolts so he veered off for Boom Boom instead, who didn't have time to react. He scooped her up and bulleted her back to where she had started the water course and left her on the bank, before effectively smashing up the bridge and other connectors leaving her stranded. And thanks to his speed, Boom Boom couldn't use her orbs and Berzerker couldn't help her with the bolts as he was out of range.

"Damn you, Cannonball!" screamed Boom Boom as she realized she was out of the competition and stranded as well. What she didn't know was that it would get worse for her.

Rogue, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler had made it down the same path as Berzerker, Boom Boom and Spyke had done, after crossing from the dark forest, where they faced evil woodland creatures, who were now effectively decapitated, before venturing into the section with the dancing elephants, where Kitty had phased them all into the ground, Rogue had broke many with her fighting skills and Nightcrawler had bampfed them away before they could do real damage. As well, they had destroyed the weapons range and still came out intact. They had heard Boom Boom's curse to Cannonball as he stranded her, and knew that they had to sneak attack her, a job they left to Shadowcat.

Kitty quietly ran through the middle of the walls, so that she was invisible to Tabby. Once she was inline with an angered, agitated and mumbling Boom Boom, Shadowcat phased into the floor below her and upon reaching Boom Boom, phased her all the way into the floor, until only her head was showing. Boom Boom was shocked and surprised to find herself only eight inches from the floor.

"Shadowcat!" she yelled incensed.

Kitty merely giggled upon reemerging, "Sorry, Boom Boom, but we gotta do, what we gotta do to win."

That only caused Boom Boom to grumble even more at her new predicament, Sam had stranded her, but Kitty had really stranded her and left her stuck in the floor literally.

"Okay, guys, we're clear," called Shadowcat and a few moments later, Rogue and Nightcrawler emerged from a purple cloud of brimstone with a bampf.

Both Rogue and Kurt laughed at the sight of a bristled Tabby and continued on their way.

"Looks lahke it's tahme ta take out tha boys," said Rogue.

"Ve should vait to see if one will take out zhe ozher first, save us zome vork," suggested Kurt.

"A good idea," said Kitty, settling herself down on the floor, watching the two boys duke it out on the platforms like a pair of video game characters. Kurt and Rogue joined her too and they were all hidden by the shadows.

Suddenly, Boom Boom, let out a yell, "Berze-" in warning of the oncoming team to her teammate.

She was cut off as Kurt acted quickly covered her mouth. She bit it and tried again, but Rogue slapped a bare palm over her forehead and she was out like a light.

"Ouch, zhat stung," complained Kurt shaking his fuzzy hand to relieve the pain from Tabby's bite, causing Kitty to giggle.

"Ya might as well phase her out now, Kit, she won't be doing us any damage soon," said Rogue and Kitty complied. They soon regained their watching positions of the battle in front.

They watched as Berzerker began to aim his supercharged bolts of electricity at Cannonball, in a both defensive and offensive move to thwart the Kentucky native from crossing and attacking him as well. Eventually, after a long battle of target practice, Berzerker finally brought down Cannonball by surrounding him with an electricity bolt. Sam was knocked unconscious immediately and plummeted to the water below, where he was rescued by a droid and removed from competition.

"Looks like it's only Berzerker," said Shadowcat.

"Ja, I say ve teleport over, and then Rogue, use Boom Boom's power's to distract him, and zhen Katzhen can phase him through the bridges into zhe water. He von't be able to climb back onto zhe platforms, and he'll be out," said Kurt.

"Good ahdea, Kurt," agreed Rogue as Kitty nodded in agreement.

"All aboard zhe Nighcrawler Express," said Kurt excitedly as he teleported Kitty and Rogue to where Ray was.

Ray had currently climbed across two more platforms with his and Tabby's plank and was close to twenty feet from the edge of the other cliff. He was so close. He was getting tired, but he convinced himself that he could make it. Hopefully, others would be taken out by each other by the time he reached the flag, so he wouldn't have to do too much fighting. He was just about to place the plank across the next set of platforms, when he heard the telltale bampf and the smell of sulfur and brimstone.

Before he could react, cherry bombs were thrown in his face, impairing his vision. As he was distracted by that, he felt a hand on his arm, and then all of a sudden he was weightless, and before he knew it, he hit the water. Spluttering as he came out, he muttered curses at Shadowcat, Rogue and Nightcrawler's teamed ambush, before being taken away by a droid.

"Well that was relatively easy," commented Kitty, watching Ray get taken away.

Kurt and Rogue chuckled and Nightcrawler held out his hands to the two girls who accepted as they teleported across the remaining distance of the water obstacle to meet whatever was left. Upon reaching the other side, they were met with a simplistic alley way leading to a street, cars, and other buildings, where AI thugs would jump out at you with weapons, and drive by shooting would occur every now and then, it was completely like one of those video games, and posed little challenge to the three experienced X-Men who took out the thugs and weapons. So they ventured on to a pristine white hallway at the end of the street, deciding to take whatever that was next head on.

* * *

Gambit, Colossus and Pyro had moved through the maze with relative ease. They had after all, been employed by the self imposed Master of Magnetism who made the three of them do many risqué jobs, where there were no safety features or abort button, so basically they were completely screwed if they failed. Failure meant torture, experimentation and death in the kinds of missions Old Magneto sent them on. So the Danger Room session was in skill nothing they hadn't faced in the field itself and their last mission was evidence of that. 

They were also a very cohesive team, and very well trained, the Wolverine may have been a drill sergeant, but Magneto was a dictator, and he worked all the boys to exhaustion five times a week in his training sessions. Many of which they eluded death. They all had scars to prove it, even Colossus with his metal exterior. Sure, all boys were pretty good fighters when they were first employed, in Remy's case excellent, but Magneto had ingrained in them a certain perfection that only comes with the fear for your life.

The boys in the past several months, after Apocalypse, had been accustomed to running suicide missions. So performing the death defying stunts required in the Danger Room was like a cake walk in comparison to Magneto's insanity. They had made it through the maze easily. Their survival training and instincts kicked in from their time with Magneto, making them extra paranoid and thorough with everything.

They had destroyed a plethora of fighting AI droids in a section reminiscent of the middle ages where they were attacked by fighting knights, archers, as well as knights on horseback. This was a rather long section of the maze, as they were three mutants in the middle of an all out war that they had to fight through. After cruising through that section, they faced a complicated shooting range with multiple weapons and barricades from which to fight off, and with their abilities was little challenge. Then, came Pyro's favorite section, the lava pit. They had to get from one side of the pit to the other, using the few stepping stones that were available and wide apart, also besides the molten lava streaming the place, magma would sometimes shoot up. They were able to get across by using a mixture of Gambit's agility and speed, Pyro's control of flame, and Colossus' indestructible metal shell and strength in teamwork to help each other gain access to the other side. Their flawless teamwork, fighting skills and powers were a powerful combination and were able to ward off any challenge that passed their way.

After surviving the lava pit, they reached the inner belly of the maze that was rather plain. It was a truly normal maze for the Danger Room with some metal walls and path. Some walls reached the top of the room, others did not and could be jumped over for ambush or cutting across as well as walking on. Currently, Gambit was navigating the top of the wall like a cat, looking for the center of the maze, with Colossus and Pyro following beside him on the insides of the maze. They had yet to face any teams.

"Well, hommes," said Gambit, "de center looks t' be dat way, he said pointing straight ahead. All we have t' do is climb a few walls and walk on top of a few, and den we'll reach it."

John looked up at his friend excitedly and told Piotr to help him up, so that he could follow Remy to the center as he was best at navigating. Colossus complied and soon found himself following his two friends on the top flat part of the walls, looking quite ridiculous, being oversized, metal and rather graceful for a man his size. They resembled gymnasts crossing a balance beam. They went on for about twenty minutes this way, walking on walls as well as climbing over them, they had to walk the path a few times too, to reach the middle as well.

Just as they were about to reach a partially domed area, with a few crates lining the walls, three exits or entrances and a flat floor and smooth walls, it was an area used for battle confrontation, Gambit's keen senses caught something.

"So when d'ya think we'll reach the middle?" asked Iceman for the fifth time in ten minutes annoying both Jean Grey and Cyclops.

"The same as ten minutes ago," said Cyclops, whose patience was being seriously tried as was Jean's. They were all tired and battle worn and Iceman had decided it was time to be annoying and bug them.

"Listen, Iceman, we're almost there, so can you please stop it," requested Jean diplomatically, "we really need our focus in this situation."

"No," replied Iceman to the annoyed glares of his teammates. They both knew he was just getting some sick pleasure from their annoyance, but usually only when they weren't in a dangerous situation. He'd been fine prior to navigating the complicated twists and turns of the maze.

"Okay, fine," he said when he saw their annoyed glares.

"Thank you," they said simultaneously.

Jean, Cyclops and Iceman were approaching the battle area and upon realizing this, all three former Acolytes dropped down from the top of the wall to plan. They had started off bating a Sentinel in a warehouse district, then battled some street thugs in some dark twisting alleys with AI, before navigating though a heinous lab building, with killer automated defenses, but they made it past those areas relatively unscathed, and had been navigating the metal portion of the maze for the last while.

"Ambush, ambush, ambush," said Pyro with a mischievous smile.

"But o' course, homme," smirked Gambit.

"Ve can hide on zhe domed area, and vhen zhey get close enough, Pyro can surround zhem vith flame, vhile you drop cards as well," suggested Colossus to the agreement of the two boys before him, "Zhen ve drop down and attack them."

"I'll take tha Ice Pick, mates," said Pyro, "Gambit can take tha red head and mess wit' her telepathy, and Colossus can show leader boy how futile it is tha shoot at solid metal," he finished tapping Colossus' metal chest for affect.

"Den let us prepare," said Gambit as all three boys climbed over walls and onto the partially domed part of the battle area. It was completely circular with metal walls that reached 15 feet high. Part of the area curved into a half dome covering a portion of the area overhead that was perfect for the boys' ambush on Scott's team. As they hid themselves from view on the overhang, the opposing team entered the area.

"Well Jean, you sense anyone near?" asked Scott.

"No…although there are two that seem rather far away and one really faint one, that's almost invisible, they're kinda hard to get a read on though, they're too fuzzy, so I can't tell who they are or their thoughts for that matter," said Jean, "but from the faint one, I'd say it's Rogue. Her blocks are incredible, and Shadowcat's and Nightcrawler's are getting pretty impressive too, so it must be them."

"How far away are they from us?" asked Iceman.

"It's really hard to say, with their blocks, and they just increased them, so I've lost any reading on them, but they're a good hundred feet away at least," estimated Jean.

"Good, that will give us some time to prepare, and look for the flag," said Cyclops.

This caused the boys above to smirk; the mental blocks that they'd developed over the years under Magneto's employment were incredible and made them practically invisible when they wanted to, due to the work done with Magneto himself as well as many telepaths he'd hired. Gambit's were especially strong due to his natural ones due to his empathy, his time with Xavier when plotting to exchange information and also at Magneto's insistence for all the boys to have them strongly placed, however, they could increase them or decrease them with ease.

"Well, which way now?" asked Iceman, as they walked towards the center of the room, right in front of the overhang, looking around.

"We could always go one direction, and then come back here if it doesn't work out," suggested Jean.

"That sounds like the best course of ac-"Cyclops was cut off with a barrage of cards and a torrent of circling flames that surrounded them.

Suddenly, they lost all their visibility and couldn't see anything, except smoke, flame and the charged remains of cards. They had all been blown backwards and were all sprawled in various positions on the floor from the explosive impact of cards and were all groaning in pain.

"Jean, can you sense where they are?" called a frantic Cyclops, "surface thoughts, projections, anything?"

Jean scanned the area, but couldn't get a definite read on any members of the ambush and it was getting hard to see with another round of cards being thrown at them. All she could hear with her thoughts was an annoying song lyric that the boys kept repeating on loop to throw her off and it gave no clue as to where they were. It went something like this:

Pyro's thoughts: _"I see ya baby, shakin' that thang, shakin' that thang, shakin' that thang…"_

Gambit's thoughts: _I see y' baby, shakin' dat t'ing, shakin' dat t'ing, shakin' dat t'ing…" _At some point, Jean distinguished the song to be Groove Armada's 'I See You Baby'.

Although, she was a little surprised when Piotr was thinking the same too: _"I see youss baby, zhaking zhat thing, zhaking zhat thing, zhaking zhat thing...'_

"No, Scott, their blocks are too strong, if I break through them, I'd be thrown back out forcefully," said Jean.

"Well, that does it, we're officially screwed," said Iceman, moving closer to the couple.

"Not, yet" said Scott, refusing to go down, "we'll try to get through the flame to fight."

However, before anyone of them could react, the flames enclosed Iceman and the heat made it impossible for Jean and Cyclops to reach him. Suddenly, Colossus barged through the fire and pulled Cyclops out before Jean could interfere and the flames around her were too hot to go through. They were all officially separated and on their own.

Jean began to look around frantically for a way out. She called out telepathically to Scott, _'Are you alright?'_

Scott replied, _'for the most part, I'm doing battle with Colossus, you?'_

'_I'm fine; I'll try to see how Iceman is doing?'_

'_Kay, I'll see you soon.'_

Upon finishing her conversation with Cyclops, she began one with Iceman, _'how are you?'_

'_Um, kinda busy Jean, about to get fried, so if you excuse me, I've got to get back to business, bye!' _reported an anxious Bobby.

All of a sudden, Jean was removed from her thoughts as a small break in the ring fire, surrounding her, appeared and Gambit tumbled in gracefully with his Bo-staff in hand, causing the break to shut just as quickly, as if it was never there.

"Bonjour, p'tite," said Gambit as he approached the weary Jean Grey, who prepared her fighting stance and offered her a gentlemanly bow and smirk.

"Hello," she said seething, narrowing her eyes.

He began to corner her almost like a predator, with Jean trying to see a way out of her situation. She didn't have enough time to think before Gambit swiped her stomach with his Bo-staff, causing her to stagger back. Before she could recover, he aimed a punch to her face, to which she dodged quickly, and tried to use his momentum against him, by pushing him forward, but he only grabbed her arm, pitching her forward to fall. Jean got up quickly and tried to punch him, any offensive move, but every time she tried, he'd block her with his hand, or Bo-staff, without breaking a sweat. It soon became apparent to Jean that Gambit was the superior fighter and that she wouldn't win by fighting alone, that, and he was toying with her, he had yet to make an offensive move, causing her to worry even more. He was so quick and agile, causing her to tire and she knew that she couldn't keep this up much longer, so using her telekinesis; she held his body stock still and levitated it a few feet above her with her hands outstretched in front of her.

"Hey, no fair, p'tite!" protested Gambit, already putting a plan into action.

"Well, hate to tell you this, but Wolverine did say anything goes," said Jean, happy to gain an advantage over Gambit.

Unfortunately, Gambit began to smile, "so he did," and winked at her.

As Jean contemplated what to do with Gambit, for a moment, she felt a burning sensation in her lower legs, and looking down, she noticed that Gambit had charged up her boots to a make them glow a bright red.

"So, you gonna let me down, p'tite?" asked Gambit, confidently.

Jean grimaced slightly, the boots were getting unbearable, but she knew it would hurt to touch them to take them off, as the only protection her feet were getting from being burned was the insulation only found in the boots. Damn.

"No," she said determined. She knew her only chance was to break his mental shields, no matter how painful to her, and cause him to go unconscious. So she concentrated, and was met with his impressive impenetrable wall. All of sudden, she felt a huge influx of some unknown source from Gambit, pouring into her brain from their mental connection that was overbearing, and causing great pain to her, more so than from a mental slam she'd get if she were to invade someone like the professor with out permission, and she couldn't get out either. She clutched her head in pain and fell to her knees moaning. Outside, where Colossus was battling Cyclops, Cyclops too clutched his head, and fell to his knees, howling and writhing in pain. Colossus decided that it was time to win this, and knocked the leader unconscious.

In the battle, neither opponent had exchanged a blow, for Scott knew he couldn't win with fighting, so he relied on using his optic beams as defense, but it was a losing battle, as it barely affected the imposing giant, with his metallic skin, who was about to corner him. Sure, the blasts blew him back a few feet each time, but not enough for comfort. Suddenly, Jean's mental pain erupted through his head from their link, causing him great pain as well. And he knew Colossus had won, when the last thing he saw was his incoming fist.

Gambit had formed a link with Jean the moment she opened her telepathy to him, leaving her mind slightly unguarded. He used this to his advantage and proved that empathy and telepathy was a lethal mix. The Cajun thief opened his empathy and caused Jean to feel the emotions of everyone within a ten mile radius, causing her mind great pain, being very unaccustomed to it. When it became too much, she fell to the floor unconscious, taking the TK holding up Gambit with her, feeing him from her hold. Gambit got up gracefully and taking a risk, he ran and somersaulted through John's intense ring of fire unscathed to meet Colossus on the other side, where Cyclops was being retrieved by a droid and another one was coming for Jean.

Both decided to watch the amusing match of Pyro versus Iceman.

"Gimme ya worse, Ice Cube," shouted Pyro with an insane laugh as he surrounded the Iceman with a mountain of flame.

"That's IceMAN!" he shouted bring his hands to freeze the flames, but Pyro created more and Iceman found himself surrounded once more.

"If that's all ya goyt, ya'd betta go home ta ya mommy, mate," rebutted Pyro, laughing like a maniac and causing a herd of flaming knights on top of giant armored horses to attack him.

Iceman immediately formed a castle wall to block the knights, but the flames simply melted the ice wall and came at him once more. Iceman now in his ice form braced himself and tried to cool the atmosphere, but the heat and smoke was suffocating and he didn't know how much longer he could take this battle of the elements. He had been hacking his lungs out for the past ten minutes and if this kept up, he was going to get lung cancer.

Suddenly, Pyro increased the smoke coming from the flames, and Iceman knew he was in trouble, he was starting to wheeze and he just couldn't get fresh air into his needy lungs, not to mention the incredible heat, that was starting to make him feel dizzy and nauseous. He was weakening and so he broke his ice form and collapsed to the ground unconscious from heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.

Pyro took back his flames as a droid retrieved Iceman.

"Well that wos pretty easy, mates," said the boy cheerily.

"Da," agreed Colossus.

"Well, we should be goin' dat way, now," said Gambit pointing to the doorway adjacent to the one Cyclops' team emerged from. He knew they weren't to go through the door below the overhand as it led to the edge of the maze from what they saw when on top of the overhang.

Just when they were about to walk in the direction of the door, Gambit's emotional levels peaked from his empathy, causing him to turn around, just in time to see the Wolverine let out a savage growl and jump at him. The thief wasted no time in grabbing his extended Bo-staff to block the feral mutant's attack.

"Ready fer the next round, Gumbo?" asked Wolverine savagely as he jumped on top of Gambit with Gambit underneath him.

"Get de flag, hommes!" yelled Gambit forcefully, from his spot beneath Wolverine. Colossus and Pyro didn't need anymore encouragement as they ran through the exit and began an exhaustive search for the flag deeper in the center of the maze, nearer to the battle mat.

With only his Bo-staff between himself and the Wolverine, Gambit defended himself from his glinting claws. He brought his leg up to his stomach and kicked Wolverine off his body. Remy then jumped to his feet, in a ready position to face the Wolverine. The two combatants circled each other, waiting for the other to attack first. Both knew that it only one would leave the match conscious. Gambit made the first move by quickly tossing several brace of playing cards at the Wolverine, exploding upon contact to the feral mutant as he unsheathed his claws and ran towards the Cajun at a charge.

Wolverine was blown back several feet, his uniform ruined and in tatters with many pieces missing from his flesh. In his many battles with the Wolverine, Gambit knew that it was always best to test his healing factor, it tired the guy out. Not waiting to heal, Wolverine, once again charged at Gambit with his claws barred. Gambit once again blocked with his Bo-staff, also made of adamantium, and kicked the wild man in the stomach, causing him to grunt and fall back a few feet. Gambit could see the tissue starting to heal up some, covering the places where some bone was visible.

Wolverine got back up and growled at him, and then they began embroiled in a battle of titanic proportions. Wolverine aimed a slash at Remy's head, which caused the mutant to block with his staff quickly. He then aimed another blow at the thief's stomach to which he back flipped out of and kicked the man in the chin in the process of flipping, causing Wolverine to fall back. Remy recovered first, and charged the spot on the floor where Wolverine would land, causing it to explode upon the mutant's landing, causing him more damage.

* * *

Up above in the Observation Deck, Professor X, along with all the competitors that were taken out were watching the monitors at they displayed Gambit and Wolverine's battle at various angles. 

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt, poor Wolvie," commented Jubilee the first time Gambit charged something up. Everyone cringed the second time that happened.

"They're really going at it like old foes," commented Ray, upon seeing them duck and dodge all their moves. Their fight had an elegance and intensity that often lacked in the savageness of Wolverine's brawls with Sabertooth. It was here that they saw some of the Wolverine's best skills as a fighter as well as some of Remy's impressive moves as well, he would use flips and other tricky maneuvers to avoid an attack by Wolverine and also attack at the same time.

"Well, that o fickle, Ray, is because they are in a sense," explained Hank.

Looks of confusion were exchanged around the room, while Ororo and Charles simply smiled.

"You remember that night Logan came back with chunks of his flesh missing, bleeding on the carpets, struggling to walk, and needing Hank to examine his organs, just incase?" asked Ororo kindly.

"Um, yeah…" answered, Ray.

"Well, let's just say that it wasn't Sabertooth that did that," said Ororo with a wink to the audience, causing everyone to gain a new found respect in Gambit.

Jamie said what everyone was thinking, "Whoa…"

This caused Charles to laugh slightly.

On the monitors, Wolverine and Gambit continued to go at it, explosions would go off occasionally, as Gambit continued to weaken Wolverine slightly by making him use up energy utilizing his healing factor. Each man got in punches and kicks, with many feints and dodges, evasive maneuvers and injuries. Gambit began to sport a few light scratches to his check and arms for he'd taken off his coat a few moments after the battle started.

"How did they get ta fight each other?" asked Sam.

"Well, Logan, Remy and I used to go on a bimonthly camping trip to the wilderness to trade information, drink beers, trade stories and in Remy and Logan's case fight to see each other's skills. Sadly, I was never included, I was always made referee," said the Beast.

"So some of those times that you went off to conferences and Logan just took off were camping trips?" asked Amara.

"Yup," said Storm, "Remy was made to sneak out and make excuses to leave for a weekend, usually 'Guild business'."

"Let me guess, those freezers, that were supposedly for 'chemicals' and other research stuff was actually meat for barbequing," guessed Roberto.

"Yup," admitted Beast, "I believe the one time, I was too busy to go and be referee, and stuck in the lab, was the time that Remy and Logan really trounced each other, thus Logan's injured state."

"So how is it, Dr. Fuzzy that you get those two to fight without relative injury?" asked Tabitha.

"That would be from threatening to end the fight by tranquilizing them with a tranquilizer gun," said Hank.

"Ahh…" said the gathered teenagers. Their imaginations were really going as to how the fight between Remy and Logan must be, that and the camping trips they went on.

On the monitors, the fight was truly beginning to reach epic and spectacular proportions. It was a brutal art. Lethal, cold, vicious and precise in a way, that neither man was being let off uninjured. Both men could be seen tiring from the hard battle, but their intensity never wavered. The moves they pulled off were death defying and made the audience look on in awe. Each move they initiated was meant to be fatal, to kill, but both knew that it would be much harder to beat the other, for they were both masters.

"Iy'm ratha curious, how di' tha Wolverine get so injured?" asked Rahne. (Here's my attempt at a Scottish accent for ye)

"From what Logan told me, Remy there, ambushed him from downwind in a tree with a barrage of playing cards, as well as whatever matter he could charge like rocks in the soil and such, after Logan had lost the tricky thief, when he ran off. As it turned out, Remy had been stalking him the whole time, as Logan would have done from the tree tops, using his eyesight and thief training to his advantage," explained Storm.

* * *

"I believe we're givin' them quite a show up there, bub," said Wolverine, wiping the blood from the corner of his lip, due to Remy's last kick. 

Remy chuckled, "Well would y' care t' show 'em better, because dey ain't seen nothin' yet?"

Wolverine grinned savagely and launched into a lethal combo of slashes and kicks, to which Gambit blocked every time.

"Try not t' damage m' face, please," grinned the Cajun as he blocked and countered the Wolverine's moves.

"Now we wouldn't want that, now would we," replied the burly Canadian, purposely aiming a swipe to his face, to which the New Orleans native ducked.

Remy whacked Wolverine's head, then aimed an uppercut at his nose as the man fell down, then launched some charged cards at the mutant as well, causing the man some more bodily injury. The man beast took it in stride and smiled, hopping up, running and leaping up to attack the man below him, from where he landed. Gambit calculated the distance and landing and used his staff to knock the Wolverine back. As the man once again got up, Gambit began to twirl the staff in his nimble hands in a defensive pattern to avoid any further injury to his body. He already sported a nice gash from the man's claws on his chest.

Both men loved to fight each other, for they were equals in battle, a rare thing to find. Thus, they both enjoyed battling each other. It wasn't a grudge match like the ones between Wolverine and Sabertooth, but rather a true challenge of skill. Both had won some and loss some in their previous matches. The winner often had to pull all the tricks and stops, and today was no different.

Wolverine approached him and Gambit made the first move striking his jaw. Wolverine recovered quickly, and used his momentum against him by holding onto the staff and flipping him over. However, Gambit was prepared for the aerial ride and landed on his feet rather nicely. Wolverine chucked his staff several feet away and began to attack.

Logan got in a few punches and more scratches, but Remy was still blocking well, defending and attacking as well, getting in his shots. The man was agile and Logan was having problems blocking his shots, but he got them in, however, Gambit could take his hits, so it was a growing stalemate. Gambit launched into a punching combo and finished it off with a roundhouse kick to which Wolverine blocked with his claws, hefting the mutant into the air, where he rolled, flipped and landed on his feet, giving Gambit time to launch a few more cards at Wolverine, who had most definitely seen better days.

Gambit grunted a bit and began to punch and attack Wolverine again, to which the stocky man blocked and attacked of his own accord back at Gambit. It was truly a thrilling match. At one point, Wolverine got Gambit in a head lock, to which the sneaky Cajun, ducked down and rolled forward, causing Wolverine to go down, but not for long, as he swiped at Gambit again. Seeing his staff, Gambit flipped over to it, and picked it up. He then flipped back to his opponent and began attacking again. Wolverine once again snatched his weapon from him and got rid of it. As he tossed it over his shoulder, Remy kicked him in the stomach.

Just as Wolverine was about to use both set of claws to slash the Cajun's head off, Gambit ducked down to his knees, and stopped Wolverine's slash by catching his claws with his hands, causing a bit of blood to form from a few light scratches, the gloves taking the burnt of the blade. Gambit then began to charge Wolverine's adamantium skeleton, causing the man to howl in pain, and relieve his downward pressure on Gambit's hands. Remy then let go of Wolverine, still charging the claws with his mind. He took out several cards and tossed them at the mutant charged, further injuring him, and then for his final move, he went over to the wall behind Wolverine , who was on the floor, writhing and about to pass out from shock and pain, placed his slightly bloody hands on the wall and charged it. To add further damage, Wolverine just happened to be under the overhang, which was charged too. Just as it was about to blow, he picked up his staff and flipped out of the way, watching as Wolverine was buried under the wall.

* * *

Upstairs, there was a collective gasp from everyone present, except Beast, who had been witness to confrontations worse than the one seen as Wolverine was charged up, and an entire wall collapsed above him. 

"Don't worry, he's fine, I've seen him survive worse," commented Beast nonchalantly, with a casual wave of his hand.

Everyone looked at him funny.

Droids were now working to retrieve Wolverine from the debris, when Remy began to run in the direction to which he directed his teammates, picking up his trademark trench coat on the way out and slipping it on.

* * *

"'Ey, mate, where ya think that bloody flag is?" questioned Pyro. 

"Vell, it has to be around here somevhere, comrade," replied Colossus.

They had reached the center of the maze about 20 minutes ago, the battle mat as it were. They were now searching through one of four entrances to the maze for the flag. They didn't search the one they came in, for there was no flag in that one. So one down, three to go; they were currently searching the last of the three entrances that led to other areas in the maze. They had stopped searching in each entrance once they reached a similar dome structure as the one they had just witnessed Wolverine jump Gambit. They figured the half domed circular rooms were the rooms that Wolverine hinted at, once they saw the second one. They had looked through the rooms thoroughly, but once they realized it did not hold the flag, they moved to the next room.

Currently they were navigating through the forth entrance to the forth dome room looking for the flag. They couldn't climb the walls as they had yet to reach a section where the walls did not reach all the way to the ceiling.

"Finally, now we can finally see where tha room is," said Pyro as they reached a section with walls that did not reach the ceiling.

Colossus helped him onto the top of the wall and climbed on himself.

"Do youss see it, Pyro?" he asked of the room, as he looked in John's opposite direction.

"Yeah, Oy think it's that thing in tha distance, what'd ya think? Ya tha tallah one," he said.

Colossus looked in his direction, "Da, zhat would be it." With that, the boys began to walk along the top of the wall, then climbed over a few and began to walk once again on top of the walls. Jumping down, they got into the path that led into the half domed room, and upon entering, saw the flag displayed on a black mounting apparatus in the center of the room.

"Vell, zhat vas easier zhan expected," said Colossus as Pyro ran ahead to pull the flag from the centerpiece.

* * *

As Rogue, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were in the opposite direction of where Pyro and Colossus entered, they did not notice them in the room as they traveled into the room through a path with walls that went up to the ceiling. They strolled down the path, knowing they were about to reach the middle, or at least the flag, they were on high alert, and stuck close to the walls, and checked each hall before turning into them and entering. They had been doing a combination of phasing through the shiny silver walls that went to the ceiling and teleporting in the right direction when they could see where to go. 

Kurt scurried ahead and peeked his fuzzy head into the last turn and saw that it was a three foot hall that led into the semi domed room where Pyro clutched the flag and was looking straight at him. Dammit.

"'Ey, Oy see a fuzzy bugga!" called out Pyro excitedly, effectively blowing the cover of Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Rogue.

Kurt cursed in German under his breath.

"C'mon," motioned Rogue as she and Shadowcat stepped beside Kurt.

"Vhy don't youss come out, ve know you're there," responded Colossus.

"And no funny business," said Pyro as he sent a torrent of flame at the three mutants, drawing them into a fight, so they couldn't ambush them with one of their powers. The three caught mutants slowly strolled into the room.

"Well, well, well, looks like those boys have got our flag, guys," said Shadowcat as they moved into the boys' view.

"Zhat zhey do," responded Kurt as they all launched into a battle position.

"Now where's Gambit, I coulda sworn he was your team?" questioned Rogue.

"The Casanova is busy with one o' ya resident wild men, tha crazier one at that," responded Pyro.

"Hopefully, Herr Wolverine has taken care of him," said Nightcrawler.

"Oy wouldn't count on it," said Pyro, exchanging an 'I know something you don't smile' with Colossus, confusing the three mutants before them.

"So are we gonna faight, or are we gonna make small talk, all day?" started Rogue as they spread out, eyeing the two boys.

Pyro responded by allowing his flames to increase suddenly and stream towards them with deadly speed and precision, causing Rogue to dive away, Shadowcat to phase and Nightcrawler to teleport.

Quickly, Shadowcat emerged from the floor, behind Colossus, phasing the big man through until only his head was showing, "That's for like, for the gumbo," effectively took him out. Pyro, seeing her, shot flames at her, causing her to phase into the floor to evade it. Piotr was unaffected by the flames as he remained in his metal form with only his head showing. A droid began to try to get him out, however, further escaping would require Shadowcat to phase him out.

Seeing that Shadowcat had phased beneath the floor and knowing that when she phased through something like that, she had to hold her breath, and come up for air, therefore, he made his fire burn with excessive smoke, knowing that once Shadowcat's parched lungs breathed in the smoky air, she'd pass out from lack of oxygen, which is exactly what happened. As soon as Shadowcat emerged from holding her breath during her phasing attempt hiding beneath the floor, she breathed in the toxic air and passed out almost immediately from the lack of oxygen. Pyro then removed the smoke and flame from her section to deal with Nightcrawler in the same way, knowing that he could survive the lack of oxygen better than he or Rogue due to his constant time around the flame. Kitty was currently being dragged off the scene.

With the room swirling with fire, Kurt had found his sister and the two had teleported into the hall to get fresh air and escape the burning heat of the flames and the smoke, to which Pyro seemed immune.

"Kurt," started Rogue, "teleport on top of Pahro with me and try to destroy his flamethrower, that way he can't make his fire."

Nightcrawler nodded, determined that he and his sister would win for their team. He then teleported on top of Pyro after checking his position, and reappeared in a bampf of purple smoke and the scent of sulfur and brimstone with Rogue. Once on top of Pyro, he pulled the tubes out from the fuel quickly, so that Pyro couldn't create anymore flame. However, Kurt's lungs were once again filled with the Pyro was livid and shook him off, along with Rogue. Knowing that he didn't have much time to act, Pyro took to the surrounding flame, and twisted it towards him, making it unbearably smoky with no fresh oxygen. Nightcrawler passed out, leaving Rogue, who Pyro hadn't noticed in his haste and waning flame, was behind him.

Rogue, leapt onto the pyromaniac once again, with her hand ungloved, and grabbed his uncovered portion of his face. Pyro shoved her off quickly, but not before Rogue had zapped a great deal of his powers making him very queasy and light headed, with the flag still in his tight grip.

Rogue approached Pyro, replacing the glove and a fist fight ensued. Rogue landed her punches easy as Pyro was weak and slow, due to the zap of his energy, taking away most of his usual skill, along with the fact that Rogue knew all his maneuvers and was using that to her advantage. A few more slip ups in his weakened state and Rogue was able to punch him in the face, making him fall to the floor unconscious.

Grabbing the flag that Pyro dropped in his unconsciousness Rogue made her way to the center of the maze with his memories and recollections. She climbed over walls and walked along them just as John had, and soon found herself entering the center of the maze, where she spotted Gambit already there in the center of the battle mat, looking around before his glowing red gaze fell onto her and the flag.

"Well, well, chere, looks like it be just you and me, now," said Gambit with a smirk.

"So it seems," she said coldly.

Gambit threw up his hands, "So then, come and fights me, or is you scared?"

"Of course not Swamp Rat," she emphasized 'Swamp Rat' as she made her way within the confines of the battle mat leisurely, knowing that to step off was to lose, with the flag.

"So what happened ta ya?" she asked eyeing his battered clothes, scratched body, and battered new trench coat.

"A little confrontation wit' Monsieur Wolverine," replied Gambit resting his weight on staff by leaning into it with his hands on one end and his chin resting on top.

"Too bad he wasn't able ta reallah knock that smirk of ya face," said Rogue.

"Well he did try," responded Remy, by now Rogue was inches away from him and had dropped the flag to the ground, and before he could react, she popped him one in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards. Luckily, with the grace of a thief, he recovered and flipped back, twirling his staff in a defensive figure eight and eyeing her, watching her moves.

"Dat's not nice, chere," said Remy with a wink.

"Well Ah'm not a nice girl," replied Rogue, blowing a piece of her snow white bangs from her face, Remy couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing ever.

"Ain't that true," stated Gambit, as he moved forward and began to test her skill, by maneuvering his staff in attack to hit her. Rogue dodged, blocked and parried each move, with relative ease, and tried to get in a few of her own moves as well, to which Remy moved out of with his natural agility.

"What are ya trahin' ta insinuate?" she asked aiming a kick to which he blocked. He began to up the tempo a bit and increase the challenge of his move, testing her out, getting a feel for her technique and skill, apparent that she was a good fighter. Neither was really gaining any headway and it showed that they were really just warming up, testing each other out, sizing up the other opponent for skill and such.

"Well, chere, de fun and games are over. Let's see how y' handle dis," he said, suddenly ducking and swiping her off her feet. He kept her off balance as she got up, getting in her space, and got a punch to her face, knocking her back. As Rogue well back, she reached with her hands for the ground and launched into a backwards roll to land on her feet just as Gambit stopped in front of her. She launched a series of attacks and blows at him, but he got out of each one. He was fast and agile and she couldn't touch him. She tried a roundhouse kick, but he flipped out of the way, and kicked her back with his legs. As she began to get a feel for his fighting style, she was able to aim a quick jab to his jaw, to which he grinned and winked at her in response, causing a disgusted snort from her as she set another roundhouse kick and sent him back a few feet before he flipped out of the fall.

She was beginning to get angry, Gambit kept moving out of all her shots, punches and kicks. He was quick and fast. The Cajun had stopped attacking her all together. She could sense it, he was toying with her, which only angered her more, which caused her to make a quick punch combo and land it on his gut and chest. Remy could see her getting angry and only smiled. He gave her a nice spin kick to the chest. She tumbled back before getting up again. And boy was she pissed with that look in her eye. Gambit knew that fun time was over.

* * *

Above them, in the Observation Deck, all the mutants, minus Logan were watching the pair duke it out. It was a flurry of punches, kicks and jabs. They were both excellent fighters. They were able to match each move that the other made perfectly, as if it were a dance. Every time one would look like they would fall hard, they would simply flip back up and go at it again. 

The hiss told the group of the automated doors opening. Collective groans of disgust were exchanged as they saw the beat up form of Logan. Sure, he had cleaned up, got some fresh clothes on, namely a wife beater and sweats, but parts of his flesh was still missing, especially from his face, which was definitely not a pleasant sight. The adults barely batted an eye to the Wolverine's appearance.

"Shoulda known the runt would pull something like that, again," said Logan with a satisfied smile as he approached one of the seats by the glass behind a computer. He was always happy after a fight with the Cajun, because it was actually challenging for him.

He looked below to see how the two fighters were doing. He saw their complicated fight that looked more like a dance and smiled. It seemed to him that the Cajun could meet any person's fighting style and match it with his own. What they were doing below resembled the moves from a complicated martial arts movie, only better because there were no special effects or wires. It was purely their skill. Both were landing hits and dodging at the same time. Gambit had forgone his Bo-staff and they were now fighting with straight martial arts moves, no powers.

It would seem that one would get some leeway, but then the other would fight back, and it would be back to the apparent stalemate. Remy had a constant smirk on his face, and it only seemed to anger Rogue who would fight quicker and dirtier as the match continued, aiming for pressure points that would hurt him more. But as Wolverine already knew, the man could take a beating, no problem. Remy got his share of hits in and Rogue was sure she would be black and blue in the morning. She would wince, breathe and simply shoulder it and fight through the pain.

"Whoa, I didn't know Rogue could fight like that," said Alex.

"Well, she's the best fighter here, mostly because her powers can only work when in range and she doesn't really enjoy using them on others," said Scott, rubbing the bruise on the side of his face that was forming with an ice pack.

"She, like, also learned to fight like that, so she could defend herself, if anyone tried to touch her, and partly from Mystique's training," said Kitty. Both she and Kurt had come up after waking up from unconsciousness with John. Kitty had phased Piotr out of the block he had been cut out from which was rather humorous, and they had all walked up together, with a few of the others left who had still been out when they were placed in the Infirmary by the droids, which monitored their condition.

"Ja," said Kurt, grimacing a bit at the name, "because she is her 'daughter'," he used the term loosely with air quotes, "she trained her better zhan zhe rest of zhe Brozherhood." He looked on at the battle with interest, watching her sister perform graceful, yet lethal and painful moves on Gambit, who in turn did them right back at her and dodged her attacks.

Wolverine grinned wolfishly as he saw them not only exchange blows, but some rather good acidic words and battle talk to each other. That was a separate fight in itself. And unlike the audience around him, he could hear their heated exchange with his hearing. It was rather amusing that they could keep up a conversation and fight unbelievably well at the same time. However, it was when they finally stopped exchanging verbal blows that the fight really was brought to a whole other level of intensity.

* * *

It truly was a dance for those two combatants. It became apparent that only they knew the steps to it. Rogue had never faced an opponent like Gambit who could match her moves and strides like Gambit could, he seemed to move with her, but it was impossible to tell which of them was really leading the dance. Gambit had never faced an opponent like her who could match his fighting style. They were fast, graceful and lethal. They were both panting due to the speed, but while they were attacking each other, it was as if the whole world faded away and it was just the two of them, trading kicks, punches, jabs and other maneuvers. They weren't even looking at each other's bodies anymore to anticipate the other's moves. At some point, both had seized looking at body language and had focused in on the other's face and eyes. It was like they were trapped in a fight, with only their eyes to communicate. Their eyes never left each other, but still they could land hits and dodge at the same time. 

Rogue tried a left hook to his face, but he grabbed her hand and pushed her back, their eyes never losing contact, burning into each other. She aimed a roundhouse kick at him, which he moved out of, but grazed his arm. He got a good upper cut in, that made her head go back slightly. Gambit would block with his arms or legs, only letting her get the occasional hit in.

He flipped her down, and she took him down with her and all of a sudden, he was right on top of her, inches away from her face.

"Interesting position, chere, I always liked being on top," said Remy with a smirk, breaking the silence.

"You would," said Rogue icily before, kneeing him in the groin to roll off her.

"Y' wound me, chere," said Remy with a groan in response.

"Well, someone has to," she continued, aiming a punch to his jaw, to which he blocked with his arm to grab hers and flip her onto her back. She twisted out of his tight grip and flipped herself to her feet, just as Gambit was about to attack her, keeping her off balance and on her toes. He got her in the stomach nicely and she took a sharp breath. Her abs were starting to hurt from the beating she'd got from him. She got a nice kick into his stomach in return; Gambit simply breathed and took a sharp kick into her shin getting her off balance and onto the floor momentarily before she rolled to her feet again. And their dance began again.

This would continue on for many more minutes, where they would exchange blows and a few occasional words in their intricate dance, exciting the interest of the observers above them. Remy grabbed her arm, and pulled her around, making her back face him and grabbing her other arm as well, holding her in position. She reacted by hooking his leg with hers, and pitching her weight forward, causing them to fall forward. Just before she hit the ground, she tucked her head in and rolled out of his grasp. When she was up, Gambit was up as well, back into his fighter's stance. They would flip out of reach, make devastating combos to wipe the floor, but yet, they didn't stop and the fight was getting drawn out.

They got back into that groove where they only had to look into each other's eyes to anticipate the other's move and block or attack. They got a few shots in each. Every punch and kick was graceful and pure art; Lethal and beautiful at the same time. In their unique brand of dance, it seemed to last forever. No noise was heard, save for their breathing and the sounds of hits. Both had a drive to win, and neither was one to loose, but for the moment, they were lost in the steps of their dance. It was unclear at this point who would win, for they both appeared to be evenly matched.

As they were fighting in their second round of dizzying feats, Remy spoke to her suddenly, "Hate t' tell y' dis, chere, but it's time t' end dis. It's sure been fun, t'ough." With that, his attacks took on a whole new level of speed, brutality, lethalness and grace. One which Rogue could not match, she could still block some of his moves, but faster and faster, more and more, Gambit was landing them, and she began to realize that her attacks and punches had decreased and she couldn't land any hits. She had begun to focus solely on defending herself, yet it was a losing battle. It was only a matter of time, but she would not go down easy. No, she would go kicking and screaming. It was then that she realized that Gambit had been toying and playing with her, holding back to pace her attacks and test her out. She then knew that she was seeing his best now, and he was truly the best fighter she had seen next to Logan. Logan was brutal and efficient, but Remy was lethal and graceful. It was beautiful to watch him fight. He made it an art.

Gambit had to admit that she had given him a run for the money, and had been worth his time. He could tell that she was still developing and would only get better. He looked forward to facing an opponent that would improve like he knew she would. She was too determined, and prideful not to. She was still defending his increased attacks pretty well, but he could tell that he was wearing her down. She had stopped attacking whatsoever and was just purely defensive, but Gambit was still able to get his hits at her.

Rogue was getting desperate. She knew she couldn't win the battle, but she could still win the challenge. She just had to get him off the mat, but how? She began to inch closer to it, planning her move to send him over, but she knew it would not be easy; Gambit was too good to be finished so easily.

'_Sneaky chere,' _thought Gambit of Rogue's inching closer to the edge of the battle mat, _'very clever, good girl, but I'm afraid, it's not gonna work on dis t'ief. _However, he let her lead him close to the edge, inches away, before he made his final move. He aimed a particularly hard unexpected punch to her chest, and grabbed her hands behind her with one hand, while grabbing her leg at the thigh with his other hand in the blink of an eye, so quickly that she barely registered that she wasn't touching the ground anymore. Before her brain could fully register the situation he had flipped her into the air, with such force and momentum she began to fly and twist in the air past the mark of the edge of the mat, in a move that resembled a throw in pairs skating, an effective end to their dance.

She landed on her side abruptly and rolled a few feet on the floor, before picking up her bruised and battered body off the floor to hear the automated voice tell her that Gambit had won. She was breathing heavily. Gambit gave her a smile, not one that was cocky or arrogant, but a true smile that was sweet and genuine, one which showed her that he was impressed with her skill and thought of her an equal. She gave him one in return, a smile that lightened her face that was sincere and rare in her life as if thanking him for the challenge. He walked over to her and offered her a hand up, to which she accepted.

* * *

They would both later get treatment from Beast once exciting the Danger Room, and hearing what the instructors had to say and critique about their fighting. All the instructors were impressed by the former Acolytes' fighting skills and cohesiveness as a team. They were rather formidable and invincible in battle when they were enemies and it really showed why in the Danger Room. 

It was in that fight that perhaps their first cohesive and true bond was formed. A link that neither knew about that began to blossom. It was here that their elaborate dance had begun, without them truly knowing about it. And what was to come could only get better.

* * *

It was about mid-Febuary now, and the snow was still thick and falling every few days in Westchester, although the subzero temperatures weren't all too bad as they stayed mild, not dipping too low below negative fifteen degrees Celsius. (Being Canadian, I'm really confused by Fahrenheit, I have no clue what it is in relativity to Celsius, so when I read that 30 degrees is cold, I'm like, riiight…my mind just can't place the measurement right, although I do know that water freezes at 32 and that's about it.) Throughout the course of the month, the former Acolytes had adjusted to their new surroundings quite well. They had become easy friends with everyone in the mansion and it was already giving them a family vibe. Everybody was friends in the mansion and everyone knew practically everything about each other, and everyone was pretty close too, like a family. 

Gambit of course had easily won the hearts of the majority of the female population. He easily had them fawning over him, it was easy to say, that he was the one to which most of the girls had a crush on, but then all of the younger girl recruits had a crush on each of the guys, but in varying degrees. Not an all out creepy obsessive crush, mind you. The boys, on the other hand, either worshipped him for his skills in wooing the female population or hated him for it. For most of the people in the Institute, life went on about as normal as it would ever get for them. Rahne turned sixteen and all the Newbies still went to Bayville High, even Jamie, who had turned 15 recently.

Their closest of friends had become the tight knit group of Kurt, Kitty and Rogue. Sure they hung out with different people and spent time alone too, but they were just closest with each other. Rogue and Remy had somewhere along the lines entered a begrudging friendship of constant bantering and bickering that most of the residents had now become accustomed to and ignored the heinous comments and raise of voices as if they were oblivious to it. Their wit and acidity was astounding. If you didn't know them, you might think that they were bitter enemies. But those at the mansion just saw it as the strange way they interacted with each other. They didn't mean most of what they said and it was in good fun anyway, although the truth hurts, stings and festers in the ears of the observers that would gather for some of their verbal yelling matches. If you didn't know them, you wouldn't know that they sort of liked each other, and had a strange friendship.

Currently, the six friends were gathered in the middle table of the grand library in the Institute chatting amicably about their family and childhoods on a sunny Sunday afternoon studying for their respective classes.

Kitty and Kurt were both seniors as both had upgraded their courses and taken fewer options, so that they could finish school early to graduate with Rogue and escape the mutant bigotry that they faced at school. They were both very intelligent and the classes weren't all that difficult for them, they just needed to study and work hard to get the good grades. Rogue was doing well in school and her grades had picked up in her final year, as if in rebellion to the school for trying to deny mutants so much and for treating them so badly, like, 'Sure you can treat us badly, give us no breaks, but I'll still do better, just to prove you wrong.' She got satisfaction from proving people wrong. Remy, Piotr and John were doing exceptionally well at university in their courses, and they didn't have to worry about Magneto getting suspicious of them still being in class, but supposedly dead, because he'd been captured by Stryker. They took the bullet train every morning to Grand Central Station, then a separate subway to get to university, luckily, thanks to the train, it wasn't too long of a commute from Bayville.

Soon after Stryker's attacks, they had gone into separate groups and searched for any mutants that may have eluded capture, but were unsuccessful, not to mention, stories of mutant captures all over the world had peaked, and with their sources and hacking, they had been confirmed to be Stryker. They had grown increasingly worried about those captured, but they couldn't find a conclusive locale as to where they were, even with all the intel the boys had stolen in January. It was frustrating to know all the information that they did, but still be unable to find the missing mutants. Most of the missions they had been on lately was to quell anti-mutant rallies and attacks on mutants by humans, and attacks of mutants lashing back at humans. Public morale towards mutants had seemed to hit an all time low and it was not a pleasant environment for those at Xavier's to step into once they left the safe haven of the Institute. Everyone would try to travel in herds at school or in public or try to keep as anonymous as possible. But despite the negatives, Professor Xavier tried to reassure them with the fact that only the vocal minority felt negatively about them.

In their conversations on family, they had spanned from Piotr's sheltered childhood in rural Siberia with his family, Kurt's rural, yet modern lifestyle back in Germany with his adopted parents, Kitty's busy city life in Chicago as an only child, John's adventured filled existence near Sydney, Australia with his adopted family and Rogue's quiet Mississippi memories by the river, with her foster mom, Irene. Currently, Remy was explaining the insanity of his family back in New Orleans that had them laughing so hard that they were practically in tears. John and Piotr would interrupt now and then to get Remy to tell some of his funniest stories that they had heard before. As it were, his cousins were all notorious pranksters and have had immense success at it. They were known in their inner circles as the 'Terrors of New Orleans' and their pranks had become legend. He also told of his jovial, wise and proud father before the tithe and Candra had tainted his judgment, of his warm and loving Tante Mattie and her delicious cooking and attitude, his two best friends that had run in the mob with him, Sage and Bishop, his most amazing older brother, Henri who'd guided him through his years at the Guild like no other and his lively wife, Mercy and their young son, his nephew, Jacques, and other various characters in his life in New Orleans as well.

He had just reached a particularly humorous part in a story of one of his cousins' legendary and infamous April Fool's Day pranks, when the professor's voice rang through their heads, _'Everyone, please come to my office immediately. Thank you.' _

Curious, they had all journeyed to the professor's office as well as the horde of other inhabitants in the mansion. Once they reached it, they took various seats in the chairs, couches, pillows, and other nooks and crannies in the room. Once he was sure everyone was there, he began, "I have noticed a strange object coming into view of our security, heading to the Institute, and have decided to bring it to your attention as it may have something to do with the abductions of mutants around the world and Stryker's goals."

The professor pressed a button on his desk, which dimmed the lights in the room, and caused large monitors to appear in the room, showing what he had displayed on his computer monitor, which was ongoing surveillance footage of two approaching motorcycles. It wasn't the motorcyclists that were of interest buy rather what was behind them that would only appear when many filters were added and even then, all that could be ascertained was that it was a large nearly invisible blob shape. Everyone was curious as to what it was, but when Remy saw it, he simply smirked and laughed.

He approached the professor behind the large dark wooden desk and asked if he could use the computer, the professor complied, and Remy rolled a chair from the side in to sit on as he tapped away at the keys. After a moment, and under more filters, it became apparent that the blob behind the motorcyclists was a car, although they could only see an outline in red once the background was made black, and no passengers were visible. The car was clearly large and of the higher ends, a custom made Bentley by the looks of it, it was slightly larger and more aerodynamic, with a sleeker design than the newest model, as the car savvy noticed.

"Dat, mes amis, would be one of de stealth cars o' de Guild. Completely invisible t' detection, unless de right technology is utilized. De two motorcyclists would be two of m' best friends, Tessa and Lucas," explained Remy to the awe and surprise of the entire Institute. He had recognized the biker gear on his two friends.

"I'll jus get some communication wit' dem t' see what dey want," he said as he began to type a sequence into the computer, which produced a window to what looked like a webcam feature where you could talk to a person as if on a phone. A few more hits and soon, a person's face appeared in the window. He had longish messy dark red hair and bright blue eyes with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Bonjour, cousin," greeted the man in the window. It was apparent he was in the front passenger seat beside the driver, facing what was most probably a lap top. It was also apparent that he was on a bench seat that could seat three people and was in the middle.

"Bonjour, Lapin," greeted Remy in return.

"I told y' he didn' die, y' owe m' 500 bucks," said a voice.

"And what exactly are y' doin' here so far from de Big Easy?" asked Remy.

"Whatev'r Henri," he said before continuing, "Well, y' see…" started Lapin, about to launch into one of his long winded stories, causing Remy to groan, however, before he could continue, a voice interrupted.

"'Ey, is dat Remy?" asked a voice, to which Remy immediately recognized as being Lapin's twin brother Emil. Suddenly, the screen began to shake, as if somebody had grabbed the laptop. The screen began to pan violently in all directions showing the amused and annoyed faces of the various passengers in the car, arguing between Emil and Lapin could be heard over the speakers, causing Remy to shake his head and the rest of the Institute to either laugh at the antics, or look confused.

Suddenly, the screen stopped momentarily to face another red haired man with blue eyes, only his hair was cropped shorter and neater, Remy recognized him as Emil. While the screen was shaking, as if someone was still trying to grab it, Emil greeted, "Bonjour, Remy!" excitedly, before the laptop was pulled away from him, and more wide panning of two brothers fighting over the laptop could be heard.

"Gimme, back m' laptop, Emil, y're smudging de screen." More annoyed faces of the passengers could be seen, a blonde woman appeared rolling her eyes.

"But I wan' t' talk t' Remy, Lapin."

"It's MY laptop, Emil."

"Y're a freaking hog. Y've had it since we drove up. It's m' turn."

"NO WAY. Y' already broke de last one."

"Did not, it was y're own fault, y' dropped it."

"I wouldn't ta dropped it if y' didn't throw it."

"Boys, boys, stop it," commanded the blonde woman.

"Henri, calm down y' pregnant wife," the twins said at the same time.

"EMIL! Keep y' eyes on de ROAD! Y' driving' a car, chile! Are y' tryin' t' kill y' Tante Mattie! Y're goin' t' hit Lucas an' Tessa," said a voice.

"Okay, okay," said Emil as the violent shaking of the laptop stopped to be fixed on Lapin again.

"Well, as I was sayin', before SOMEBODY, _cough, Emil, cough, _interrupted me…"

"Lapin, for God sakes, jus' give de laptop to Henri, I've had it wit' life threatening experiences from de deux of y'," said Mercy, a boy could be heard laughing at Lapin's misfortune.

"Fine, den, God damned pregnant, women," muttered Lapin.

"I heard dat," said Mercy shooting daggers at Lapin.

The screen sifted as it was handed to the right on Lapin to rest on a man with blue eyes and sandy blonde hair cropped close to his skull, who was shaking his head.

"Bonjour, Henri, good t' see Emil and Lapin haven't changed," greeted Remy.

"Says, y', petite frere," said Henri with a smirk, "y' didn't have t' deal wit' dem constantly fo' de last deux years."

"How d'y' kno' I didn' die, frere?" questioned Remy.

"Remy, I am disgusted at de lack o' faith y' have in m', de famille, an' de Guild. We knew de moment Magneto called and said dat y' were dead, dat he was lyin'. I mean, members o' de Thieves Guild, don' die so easily, an' y' one o' de best," he said, "plus, we had Lapin hack int' y' mini-computer." Remy smirked at that.

"What're y' doin' up here, frere, y' a long was from N'Awlins?" asked Remy, concern on his features.

Henri, sighed, looking upset, "It's a rat'er long story, Remy, and I'd rather tell it t'y' in person, along wit' y' friends, once we get t' de Institute."

"What's goin, on, Henri?" asked Remy, very worried now.

"It's bad, Remy, very bad…"

* * *

Oooh, a cliffie…hehehehehe 

Damn. Another long one, I honestly didn't think it'd be this long when I planned it out, but I wanted a really complex DR session to test their skills. I just didn't know it'd end up this long. I hoped you enjoyed it though. Plus I wanted to include some Romy fighting and just the little drop at the end with Remy's family. It's 69 typed pages, but considering my last super long chappie had a huge author's notes, this one's probably longer…sigh…

I honestly started this thing right after I last updated, I got most of the first scene done with the movies, about a week after the last one, then I started putting it off, laziness really. It's just so hard to type out all you want. I've got everything planned out, I don't get writer's block, but it just takes forever to type it out, and I just don't wanna…but I do get it done, that's why my updates have been less frequent as of late, I really just stuff too much into one chapter and that's what really drags me down…I've got the next couple chaps planed out though, although originally, chaps five, six, and part of seven were all one chapter, and part of seven, eight and nine were all one chapter…so as you can see, way too much stuff in one chap…I'll try for two weeks for the next chap, but I'm gonna also be working on 'The Road to Forever', 'Underground Resistance X', as well as a true short one-shot, that's get this, short, a first for me, I know, although not to many of you, it's more like medium length to you guys.

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER SEVEN: BOIL **Find out what happened to the B-Hood and other captives, as well how the Guild fits into all this and what exactly is so bad…

_**REVIEW!**_

Simba317


	7. Boil

**Disclaimer:** Hey, look, for my birthday, Stan Lee and Avi Arad gave me X-Men Evolution! Wait, it was a dream…damn it, gotta lay off the ice cream before bed…anyway, the point is, I don't own X-Men Evolution, nor will I ever do. I don't make money off this story, just reviews. So review…

**Author's Notes:** I'm sure a LOT of you will be mad that it took so long to update this fic. The truth of the matter is, after I updated this chapter last, I had a round of summer school where I had to do Physics 20, because I couldn't do it in my normal schedule…So long story short. I had to study and what not, so I couldn't update much. Plus, I was focused on getting out the first chapter of Underground Resistance X all punched out. It took three parts to do it. But I'm taking coldquuen's advice and making the whole shebang up to the prologue Part I and making everything after Part II, that should help some, savvy? Oh, yeah, and I won't be working on anything from August 14 to August 20 as I will be away at a camp I go to each summer. I will have a three day window to write some more, before I head to BC for our family vacation. I'll have my laptop to write fics, but I won't be able to update, as I'll have no Internet access. You can however, expect a lot of updates when I get back. I am gonna die without fanfiction, I think. I'm gonna really have to play catch up for the next while…sigh…

Okay, to remind you of what has happened, because I'm sure you all can't remember after SO long. Basically, John remembers back to movie night with the gang of Remy, Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, Piotr and himself where they watched LotR. There, Remy made some Remy like observations about their choice in movies reflecting their personalities. There was a Kiotr and Romy moment. John creeps them out with the fire obsession. Kurt has a bit of a hissy fit about the guy who plays Zidler in Moulin Rouge and the guy that plays Otto on Malcolm in the Middle. Then there was a massive DR session. With DR stuff. All the X-Men were in it, it was a bitch to type. I really won't go into that. Basically they were on different teams with the same objective, with the teachers hindering it. The last ones standing were Wolvie, Remy's team and Rogue's team. Wolvie and Remy have a violent fight in which Wolvie bites it when Remy explodes a whole wall on him…big ouch for Logan. Piotr and John find flag, only they are intercepted by Rogue's team. A battle ensues, but Rogue is the last one standing with flag, but she must battle for victory with Remy. After a long battle with many clever maneuvers, change of tides and a dance feel, Remy pushes Rogue out of the ring and takes a victory for his team with John and Piotr, earning the praise of the entire mansion. A month later, we get a surprise visit from some Guild members. Emil and Lapin fight over the laptop while driving and nearly kill Lucas and Tessa, but the message comes through when Henri intervenes…something bad is going down in the Guild, but what? All your questions shall be answered and then some…Plus, we will see what happened to the B-Hood.

Okay, and also because Remy's been at the X-mansion for about a month, he and Rogue have started a sort of strange friendship where they insult, hate each other, like each other, sort of flirt, are nice to each other, are not nice to each other and banter. Yes, it's complicated, but it's Romy we're talking about. There will be a Romy moment at the end. I promise, so basically, this chapter will be, you guessed it, long. Oh, yes, and of course, their relationship will progress, so there's plenty of room for obnoxious flirting and such. They will basically have a really f'ed up relationship, that is unique, strange and chalk full of sexual tension. Things will heat up and the next two chapters will be gems…muawahahahahahaha…I'm not telling what…

Damn, it's been SO long since I last updated, although I hope you've been satisfied by me posting up other things. And if all goes according to plan, I'll have 'The Road to Forever' up soon too. I'd really like to thank each person who reviewed and for giving me the most reviews that this fic has ever received in a chapter. I hope you continue to send me more. I love them. They're awesome.

* * *

**Shout Outs: OMG, is not allowing us to post up review responses anymore, pretty soon, a petition has been started, if you want it, give me your email! It's totally unfair, I understand the crack down on songfics, but this is ridiculous! It's the only way we can use to communicate with our readers and it's an easy way to let them know we read their responses and just for them to hear our thoughts on what they read. I beg you to support this. My email is ****simba underscore 317 at hotmail dot com****. You know what to do to make it work, just take out the spaces and add an actual underscore, at sign and period. Again, please give me your email so that I can give you the petition. **

**I love you guys so much for reviewing and I'm so mad that I can't post a response to you individually, because trust me, I really do, but I don't want all the work that I've done over the past six months to be deleted and made null to oblivion. I've already gone crazy and copied all my stories from my document manager and saved them onto my computer so I have my final copies of my stories, since I've sent complaint emails and petitions…**

**I'm sure a lot of you got into fanfiction because of the reviews and feedback as well as the Inspiration from other fics, and without that, I just don't know if I want to continue as an author. I love taking the time to write the responses before I continue a chapter of my fic because it gets me inspired. I also love reading the responses to my reviews from all of you authors out there. It not only encourages me to review, read and write, it makes me feel good that someone actually took the time to read my insanely long reviews. I guess I'm writing this because I felt so just sad and disappointed not to see a review response from slickboy444's Sinister Soldiers. So I guess, to make you guys feel better and to make myself feel better, I'll just send you guys the response by email. I feel so horrible, and I guess this is the only way to make you guys feel okay and me feel okay. If you didn't get one, it was because I couldn't find your email anywhere.

* * *

**

**Thanks to: Ishandahalf,** **Dannonspring,** **Nettlez**, **Cat2fat900**, **bored247,** **enchantedlight**, **HunzaGul**, **MagCat**, and **Alexis Ravenlockes**. **I love you all and I hope this makes up for the lack of acknowledgement you'll be getting thanks to Thanks for reviewing. If you didn't get an email and want one, send me a review with your email on it. I just feel so devastated by this. Just know that I appreciate each and every one of your reviews even though I can't personally respond to them. **

Phew, I'm done with the review responses, or I was, they're deleted out...boohoo...anyway, here's the long awaited chapter of A Mutated Existence.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: BOIL**

* * *

Wanda Maximoff woke up with a start. Her sheets were tangled around her sweaty form. The objects around her room began to float ominously. She had the dream again. That dream where everything she thought was real and true in her life was ripped apart and revealed to be nothing more than lies. Wait, it wasn't a lie. It was her life, her sorry existence called life. She wondered what the hell she ever did to deserve this. Was it because she couldn't control her goddamned powers as a child? 

She knew it was the reason her 'father' shoved her into the mental institution and forgot about her. What kind of parent does that to a child? The kind that doesn't have time for them when he's hell bent on creating the world in his glorious image. Wanda ran her fingers through her now longish hair. She had allowed it to grow so that it was about five inches long in places with red streaks running through it. Pain seeped from her heart and she promised herself not to cry again, not to give that bastard the satisfaction, that she was weak without him.

But her body did not listen to her brain and tears began to form and trickle down her face. The trickle became a stream and soon she was downright sobbing. How she hated this, hated to be made so frail. The Scarlet Witch gathered her dark blankets and sheets in her lap and brought her knees close to her body, wrapping her bare arms around them and resting her face on her knees, crying out loud. She felt pathetic. She was so fragile.

The objects that had once been swirling in her room fell abruptly back to their original places. Her room was painted a rich blood red and had black wooden frames and thick black carpets as well. She hung fabrics on the wall that were violet, deep blue and red. Posters of her favorite Goth bands were on her walls. Her desk, vanity, couch, shelves of books and CDs, night tables and headboard were all the deepest black. Lamps, vases and other decorations in the room was a brilliant cerulean blue in different shades. Her sheets were black. Her blankets and pillowcase were black too, but with twisty red designs on them. It was a beautifully decorated room; one was to be sure of it.

She heard the door open and close, so fast she barely heard it. On any other day, she would have threatened the intruder, but right now, she was just too anguished to do so. Right now, she felt like she could curl up and die. It wasn't fair that the majority of her life was spent in some hell hole, where she was forced into submission, frightened, weak and malnourished. She never got love, never got affection. All that had once given that to her pushed her to the way side and forgot about her.

Wanda felt a comforting hand rest on the back of her black tank topped torso and a weight added onto her bed.

"It's okay, Wanda," said her twin, Pietro, the same twin which abandoned her. Wanda was too exhausted to brush him off and send him away. Right now, she just wanted to drown in her agony.

"You're not being abandoned again. You're not at the asylum. You're not having your mind altered by dad. You're safe," said Pietro soothingly. The sad thing was, Wanda almost believed him then. She wanted so badly for things to be like they were between her and Pietro when they were children, but it just wasn't the case anymore. He had watched idly as she was taken away and never even saw her over the years of torment she suffered. Wanda didn't want to feel that pain again, to trust him and to have it broken all over again, so she protected her heart by brushing him off and being angry towards him.

"I'm here now. I don't know how many times it'll take, but please Wanda, believe me, I never meant to hurt you and I just want to make things right between us," he said sincerely.

"Y-You let him do this to me," she accused, "he abandoned you, just as he abandoned me, Pietro, and still you trusted him. Still you went to him. H-How many times will it take until you understand that he's just going to use us?"

"I'm so sorry, Wanda. I'm always saying that to you, you know? I understand now. I was confused. He came back, Wanda, after so long. I thought he'd changed. I thought he was different. I wanted to believe that he was going to take care of us again and we could all be happy again," he said sadly, "I went to him because I thought he'd finally have us together again."

Wanda's sobs grew more hysterical. Pietro wrapped his arms around her in comfort. He hadn't done so since they were children and Wanda hadn't let him for the longest time. Maybe they would finally let go of the past and move on. Wanda allowed for her arms to wrap around him too. Maybe for one night, they could forget all the shit that happened in their lives and just be Wanda and Pietro, best friends and twins.

"He stopped being dad a long time ago. He's not Erik Lehnsherr anymore. He's Magneto," whispered Wanda between her tears.

"I know," said Pietro. He was so tired of envisioning his father so great and perfect, like he was when he was a child, when in reality, he wasn't. He was ruthless, cold, calculating and manipulative.

Wanda was tired, tired of not having someone to lean on, to support her. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of having no one to talk to, having no one to understand her. No one to pick her up when she fell down and wipe her tears away when she cried and then, she realized that all along she did have that person, right in front of her, in her long lost twin, Pietro.

Sure, he wasn't perfect, but he was still her brother, one that had missed her terribly over the years. He didn't have his twin, his other half to support him, just as she didn't and they had both suffered from it. She could sense the sincerity in him when he apologized each time. He wanted to make this work between them. He wanted to see their relationship better. He had been persistent. He didn't give up on her. Some days were harder than others, and Wanda couldn't deny that he was starting to crack her shell, that he was slowly, but surely moving into her life and becoming the brother that she had missed dearly all those years.

"I don't want us to fight anymore," said Wanda softly.

Pietro looked back at her and smiled, a smile which was true and sincere, reflecting off his clear blue eyes which were the same shade as his sister's. She smiled back at him, through her tears. Pietro wiped them away. He knew then that they were ready to forge ahead and stop hating each other, that the father that had driven them apart had driven them back together in the end.

"It'll be okay, Wanda," he said.

"I know," replied Wanda.

It had been a long hard two months. In November, awhile after Apocalypse, Magneto had shocked them with his decision. He would continue to fight for his goals at mutant supremacy. He would fight more ruthlessly and cunningly than ever before. All this was because of what he had seen while in Apocalypse's control. He believed it was the only way to see that the world didn't become a hell. It was one of the many futures predicted to them, but the only one that Magneto chose to believe. He had revealed his new goals to them when he had visited that fateful November day, which turned Pietro and Wanda's lives upside down.

* * *

_The early November air was cold and brutal. The leaves that were left clung rebelliously to the naked trees. Lately, the kids had gone back to school, having been readmitted. It was no picnic though for they were constantly being harassed, teased and abused by the other kids in school, just as the X-Men were. Inside the boarding house, a fairly docile Wanda was watching television with her twin brother and Lance. Todd was jumping around trying to catch some flies and Freddy was paying more attention his sandwich than the television set which was currently showing some Saturday morning cartoons. _

_The room as usual wasn't much to look at, the paint was peeling in some places, the carpet was stained and the several couches in the room had seen better days. Wanda, Pietro and Lance shared the couch, Fred took up the love seat and Todd jumped around in the background, looking for flies. _

_Outside the house, an ominous black limo pulled up that would change their fates forever. _

_Due to the volume of the television, nobody heard it pull up. It wouldn't be noticed until a knock was heard at the door. After much debate, Pietro was given the task of opening it and was met with the face of his father, causing a great scowl to mar his features. After Apocalypse, he and Wanda had assumed that he would come back into their lives and be a better father, not dump them aside completely to focus on his goals for mutant supremacy. He and Mystique were currently in the process of a falling out, having different view points now and Pietro ascertained that this was what the visit was for as his father was not alone. _

_Clad in a charcoal grey coat and tuxedo black bowler hat, the master of magnetism looked every bit the cold leader, sacrificing all that he had once valued in life. He was flanked by Mystique, Gambit, Pyro and Colossus, the latter there to keep the Brotherhood in check. All wore normal clothes. Mystique wore a pair of long black pants which accentuated her height, a white cotton shirt and a matching black fitted blazer underneath a long navy pea coat looking like a business woman. The rest of the Acolytes wore clothing from their own personal tastes and styles. _

_Without saying a word, Pietro Maximoff backed away from the door and allowed the group to enter. Attention that had once been on the television had now been sifted to the group entering the room from the entrance to the living room, where the TV was shut off by Magneto as he entered. No one said a word for a moment. The Acolytes blocked off the exit to the main hall, where the stairs to the upper level and main entrance was located, as well as the door to the kitchen was, so that they were trapped in one room with no exits. Colossus blocked the way to the main hall and Pyro and Gambit blocked the way to the kitchen. _

_Toad moved from jumping around for flies to sitting on the back of Fred's love seat, while Magneto and Mystique removed their jackets and pulled up a pair of chairs from the dining room and set them in front of the television so that they had the full attention of the group. Pietro meanwhile whizzed back from the kitchen with coffee and set it on the coffee table for anyone who wanted it, returning to his seat on the couch with Wanda and Lance. _

_Wanda's keen eyes took everything in, narrowed slightly, noticing how the Acolytes blocked of all of the exits and trapped them in the one room. She noticed how they all wore casual attire, which was strange as she had only ever seen them wearing their uniforms. She decided that they looked better that way. Right away she checked the boys out before her father began his all important speck. For some reason she could just ascertain their personalities from their stature and clothing style. She could tell that the Russian at the door would rather not be there, but still did his job accordingly. Hell, she could tell that all boys would rather not be working with her father. Still the Russian appeared stoic by nature, one who could easily crush you, but she could tell that he wouldn't do that. His bark appeared worse than his bite. She was sure he was a gentle giant. Colossus was adorable looking with his close cut black hair and piercing blue eyes. When she looked at him, he simply stared back. The boys to the kitchen were a whole other story. She could tell that the boy to the right, Gambit was an absolute flirt, ladies' man and just damned cocky and confident when he strutted in. She could tell he loved to piss people off and get into fights just by the way he carried himself, always on high alert. Wanda had to admit he was absolutely gorgeous, and in a different circumstance, knew he would be flirting with her, and knew that she'd flirt back. He just had that kind of aura about him, an aura of mystery, seduction and allure. When she had looked at him, he had winked at her and smirked, causing her to blush, curse his presence and turn around. The other guy, beside Gambit, was Pyro. He was fidgety and couldn't really stay still. He had a boyish charm and was really cute. When she looked at her, he had sent her a silly grin, one she couldn't help but return. He seemed to be a complete goofball. She could tell right away he was the joker of the group, the one who got into the most trouble in the strangest of circumstances. Even though he appeared happy and oblivious to everything, Wanda knew he was just as dangerous as the other boys, except he appeared friendly, if not slightly off his rocker. Wanda had to admit of all three, John was most her type. Her father's voice interrupted her from her musings of the boys. _

"_I suppose that you are all curious as to why we are here today, so I'll get right to the point," said Magneto. _

"_When I was captured by Apocalypse, I along with the others held captive were able to get a glimpse into the possible futures in which Apocalypse saw. The state of the world to which was shown made me realize that I must use all the time I have right now to shape the world so that Apocalypse's vision may never come to pass. The only way this is possible is for me to redouble my efforts," said Magneto, his voice booming with power. _

"_Furthermore, to do so, I realize that I cannot use you all to help me in anyway. The Brotherhood is young, inexperienced, unorganized, impulsive, incompetent and obnoxious. Not only would you hinder my goals, I cannot ask you to sacrifice the lives you live now to fully realize my goals. I cannot endanger my children in this quest. I need fully skilled, full time recruits, and you are not it," said Magneto. _

_Mystique gave a sarcastic snort at his comments but Magneto chose to ignore her. _

"_Yeah, and they are," commented Lance snidely, gesturing to the Acolytes in the room. The Acolytes didn't even move or look angry, just snide that they knew something that he didn't. They didn't need to prove their worth to him. _

_Magneto chuckled, "You'd be surprised at their abilities. You don't know how good they are until you truly know them, and that, you don't." _

"_Mystique and I now have conflicting goals and interests, which is why it is in our best interests to part ways. However, as she is still in charge of the Brotherhood, she will look after you. I trust you will enjoy new freedoms under her leadership. That is all. Goodbye," with that, he got up from his chair and prepared to leave. However, the voice of his son stopped him momentarily. (This is like the Evo equivalent of the show, 'The Weakest Link' and the line, 'You are the weakest link, goodbye.') _

"_So that's it. You just came here to dump us to the way side and forget about us, while you go traipsing around getting your goal of mutant domination. I can't believe you!" started Pietro, his voice thick with venom and rising dangerously, "You use us, don't even apologize and then just push us aside. I can't believe you're even my father! I don't know why I ever fooled myself with the notion that you'd change or even care about us! I don't know why I ever even followed you! All you see is your stupid goal, and we're not even on your agenda anymore! I'm your SON, DAMNIT! All I ever wanted was for you to care, to give me two seconds of your precious time, but all you've ever done was disappoint me time after time by pushing me aside and just going after your foolish goals."_

"_I do it for you, Pietro," said Magneto softly, unmoved by his son's venomous words. The only way you could tell he was hurt was by the stab of ice in his heart. _

"_For me, you say," said Pietro, hysterically, he gave a humorless laugh, hollow in sound, "That's rich. I never wanted of this shit. I just wanted you to love me. You used me way too many times. You know, I used to think you were who I wanted to be, my hero. Now, I see you're just a piece of SHIT unworthy of my time. I don't have a father anymore, just a megalomaniac." _

"_Pietro, take it back, he's your father. He's just looking out for your future," shouted Wanda blindly. _

"_No, he's not, Wanda, no, he's not," said Pietro viciously. _

"_You're just jealous because he spent more time with me!" she accused. _

_Pietro laughed then truly laughed. _

"_If you knew the truth, Wanda, you'd be even angrier than me," he said cryptically. _

"_What do you mean?" asked Wanda slowly, confusion on her features; she turned to Magneto, "What does he mean?" _

"_I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said, "I honestly didn't think you were such a spiteful person, Pietro." _

"_Well, it takes one to know one," said Pietro coldly, "You just don't want her to know the truth, so that you can make yourself feel better about yourself. Tell me how you sleep at night. What kind of parent abandons his own children and locks one away? What kind of parent just separates his children and makes them live alone for so long, makes them suffer because of it, uses them and shoves them away?" _

"_What the hell are you talking about, Pietro?" asked Wanda, suspiciously. _

"_You don't remember do you?" said Pietro. _

"_W-What are you saying?" asked Wanda, she turned to her father again, "What is he saying?" _

"_He had your memories changed, Wanda, so that you wouldn't go after him anymore for locking you away for years, deprived of human contact. He made it so that you wouldn't remember what a terrible parent he was, what a terrible person he was. He abandoned you and had you locked in an asylum because you couldn't control your powers. He split us apart Wanda," said Pietro, finally revealing the half truths that had been Wanda's life. _

"_He had Mastermind enter your mind and alter your memories to make it so that he was wonderful, when in reality he was terrible," said Pietro. _

_And suddenly, for Wanda Maximoff, the dreams made sense, those horrific dreams she would wake up in cold sweat from, where she was bound by a straight jacket, in a cold, dark and dank cell, pleading for her father, Pietro, anybody. She had been so lonely and frightened, and she would scream her voice hoarse, but no one would come, and she'd be stuck, alone and confined. There was nothing but silence, silence, darkness and pain. _

"_Tell me it isn't true, tell me it isn't true," begged Wanda, her eyes boring into Magneto's. _

"_I'm sorry," he said._

_The illusion broke then and she awoke to the horror, torment and suffering of her years imprisoned in an asylum. She remembered being ripped away, taken from her twin, locked away and forgotten. She remembered crying herself to sleep, the drugs that sedated her, so that she was living in a blurred state of mind, never sure where she was. She remembered being so alone and isolated with no one who cared about her, no one who loved her. She remembered the cackling of the guards as they beat her into submission and took her innocence. She remembered the way the doctors would purposely inflict pain on her battered body. She remembered the feeling of being driven to insanity. She remembers finally realizing that she had been abandoned by her very own father, the one that had the nerve to stand in front of her now and apologize with empty words. _

_She clutched her head and let out a scream, the painful memories overloading her head, shattering the false truths implanted in her head. Tears fell from her eyes, streaming in steady streaks down her pale face. The Brotherhood tried to come close to her to give her comfort, but she pushed them away acknowledging her father in heart shattering words, with her voice, choked and hoarse, overcome with tears and emotion, "Oh. My. God," she said, looking at him for the first time, seeing him in actuality, "You are not who I thought you were! You are not even human!"_

_With those words she fled the room into the kitchen, stumbling in so quick, she tripped and fell into Pyro. He helped her up, taking her hand and hoisting her up. In his green eyes, Wanda could see his own pain and hardship and sincerity too, as he said, "I'm sorry," to her. She nodded and fled into the kitchen, running out the back door, bringing in the cold air into the house and leaving the sound of her footsteps as she ran. _

"_Wanda, Wanda!" cried Magneto, about to go after her. Mystique stopped him. _

"_You've done enough; she's in my care now. I'm going after her," she said and ran after Wanda. _

_Mystique fled into the kitchen and out the back door which Wanda had exited a few seconds ago. Magneto moved as if to follow, but the rest of the Brotherhood blocked his way. _

_Pietro put the final stake through his cold heart, "GET OUT!" he bellowed, red faced, tears in his eyes. _

"_Pietro," he started. _

"_GET OUT! I don't want to hear your excuses. This is MY house. Take your precious Acolytes and leave, you hear me? GET OUT! GET OUT!" shouted Pietro. _

"_Alright then," said Magneto, "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't want me here." Pietro simply scoffed. _

"_JUST LEAVE!" he said. _

_Magneto nodded, "So this is how it is." He signaled his Acolytes to leave. They followed him out. _

"_Mystique will be taking care of you now, so she'll be staying here," he said as he went out the door. Pietro slammed it shut behind him and then darted into his room with his super speed and slammed the door shut. _

_(I have to say that I'm really proud of this scene. I really just loved the way it turned out. It was really fun and easy to write once I got into it.) _

_

* * *

_

Pietro held onto her sister as she finally let out all her pain and torment built up from so long without true release, just lending her comfort, not saying a word. The silence was somehow better than anything he could phrase into words. Being twins, they just got each other, it was a connection instilled in them from the womb that was destroyed, then mended and strengthened to become whole again.

The two months had changed a lot for them. People were hired and the Brotherhood house was renovated and repaired, feeling more like a real home instead of just a dump, all out of the pocket book of one Raven Darkholme. It was apparent to all those in the Brotherhood that the woman known as Mystique had changed, genuinely changed. She was kinder, gentler and more caring. Her goals in life had changed having truly seen the error of her ways. She became a sort of mother figure, if you will, she had gained more patience with the boys and it paid off in the end. They learned to trust her. World be damned, if they told her though. Perhaps the one thing that hadn't changed was her tormented soul. You knew that she was hanging by a thread and was deeply resentful of herself for all she had done to her children in the past. She wanted nothing more than to repent for her actions now. With her children, she wanted a real relationship. Most of all, she just wanted their forgiveness. Egypt was the most low she had been in her entire life having been rejected so by her children, but she couldn't blame them. She had caused that.

Living at the Brotherhood had become a different lifestyle than before, but Mystique still went on her missions for reasons only known to her. Never once did she tell them what she did on them. However, they knew, knew that it was deep stuff and that most of all she was doing was in some way to repent for her actions towards Kurt and Rogue. Maybe if she did enough good, she'd be able to fully seek their forgiveness when the time came and her children realized that their mother was a changed woman, a compassionate woman. In fact, in the eased tension between the Brotherhood and X-Men, never once had Kurt and Rogue ventured into the boarding house and everyone knew it was because of Mystique. Kurt, Rogue, Kitty and Tabby all had strong links to those in the Brotherhood and had befriended many of them. They weren't ready and it hurt their mother, but she understood and accepted it.

Rogue had reached a new relationship with the boys who thought had been abandoned by her when she defected to the X-Men. Kitty and Lance remained good friends after their breakup. Tabby had chosen to keep her ties to the Brotherhood from her time spent finding herself when she lived there. Kurt, Rogue and Kitty had formed an unlikely friendship with Wanda as well. Tabby had already bonded with her from their first meetings living together in the boarding house.

Currently, Raven Darkholme was away from the boarding house on one of her missions. The Brotherhood had become accustomed to her leaving for long stretches of time and it was on this night, in the cold of January, that Stryker made his move.

In her room, Pietro and Wanda still held each other, forgiving each other of the past and finally moving onto the future. They broke apart suddenly when they heard a crash, from the window broken in her room and a voice, "What the hell, yo?"

Suddenly, silver balls were thrown through the windows to the curiosity of Wanda and Pietro who neared them to investigate. A thin vaporous gas escaped and before they knew it, it was flooding their bodies, making them feel immensely sleepy. The last thing they saw before falling into darkness were many armed soldiers in black fatigues and gas masks which shrouded their faces from view.

* * *

The bar was loaded and full of people and their chatter, drinking beer after beer, laughing at what was being shown on the televisions, their mindless drunken drabble, and the clicks of the balls on the pool tables. That was where Victor Creed was. He was currently in a corner of the bar, playing a round of pool with himself, deftly hitting all the balls and sipping a bottle of his beer every now and then. 

He was so engrossed with his game that he didn't notice a stunning woman strutting his way. She was tall and leggy as was accentuated by a pair of tight worn ultra low rise blue jeans that were flared at the leg and ripped at the knees with a black leather belt with a silver belt buckle. Her hair was long and honey blonde curled to perfection, setting off a pair of pale blue eyes. She wore a tank top with a Harley Davidson symbol on it that was cropped at her midriff, exposing her toned stomach and belly ring, which also had a slit cut in the middle of the top at her bosom, exposing her cleavage just that much more. On her feet was a pair of worn charcoal cowboy boots, on her neck a simple beaded chocker, on her ears a pair of dangly silver earrings and on her wrists a set of silver bangles. The woman held a pair of bottled drinks in her hand.

"Hey, there, I'm Grace, what's your name?" she purred seductively, setting down the drinks at the pool table and resting her body on it so that she exposed more of her cleavage to him.

Victor smiled, it was going to be his lucky day, "Hello, Grace, I'm Victor."

"Well, Victor would you like a drink?" she asked holding up a bottle of the same type of beer that he had just run out of.

"Of course," he said and Grace handed the drink to the waiting man, getting hers as well.

"To your health," she said and clinked bottles with him. Then both of them downed their beer.

He had not taken more than three sips before he felt dog tired. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the sadistic smile of 'Grace.'

(I'm having my share of X2 moments…but I just couldn't resist with Sabey…)

Two random men from the bar made their way to her and helped her carry Sabertooth out the bar to a waiting nondescript van.

"He had a little too much to drink," she said, smiling to the barkeep, who only smiled in understanding in return. The man had at least 20 bottles this night, so it was about time.

(The Acolytes and Morlocks will be shown taken in the next chapter. This was originally only supposed to have the Brotherhood, but I couldn't resist with sticking in Sabertooth and the 'Grace' thing just clicked for me, for some reason.)

* * *

"What de hell are y' talkin' 'bout, frere?" asked Remy of his brother as he fidgeted in his chair slightly, knowing that it had to be truly terrible for his brother to take the family and leave New Orleans. 

Henri sighed, a resigned look on his face, "I'll tell y', personally, when I reach de maison in about five minutes. Make sure y' get all de people in de house, I got somet'in' important t' say, and I ain't gonna repeat it."

Remy swallowed hard, praying it wasn't what he thought this was about and said, "Fine, see y' in five." And with that, the screen blacked out.

"Alright, Gumbo, what the hell is going on?" asked Logan, the only one brave enough or not to care enough to ask it.

"I tell y' when I know," said Remy simply as he got up from the computer and promptly left the room, heading to the main foyer (foi-yay) where the grand doors where located. Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Piotr, John, Logan and Ororo followed him immediately. The rest of the people in the room were about to do the same, but the professor told them to wait as he didn't want the entire Institute to swarm in on the LeBeaus and their friends.

Just as Remy and the rest of them reached the lawn, and into the cold weather sans jacket, a loud rumbling could be heard in the distance. Soon, two motorcycles came into view, the stealth car still invisible and a little bit behind the two, since Tessa and Lucas had sped up to avoid being hit by Emil's driving. Stopping at the intercom at the gate, one of them conversed with the person on the other side, presumably the professor, before the large black gates parted automatically, and allowed them entrance.

The two motorcyclists peeled to a stop on the cobbled road in front of the mansion's doorstep, leaving room for the stealth car. Taking off their motorcycle helmets, the man and woman were revealed. Both were Remy's age. The woman had long tousled raven hair, cerulean eyes outlined by black eyeliner and alabaster skin. She wore a short fitted black leather motorcycle jacket with form fitting leather pants with a studded leather belt and thick leather boots. A large duffle bag was strapped to her back. The man was very tall and muscular with closely cropped hair that was close to bald with a slight goatee forming. His skin was mocha colored, his eyes chocolate brown and his hair black. He too wore a leather cycling outfit with his things strapped to his back in a duffle bag.

The woman approached Remy first with a smile and a hug, earning a suspicious glare from Rogue and s knowing smile to be shared between Kurt and Kitty.

"Hey, Rem, it's been so long," she said, as she gathered him into a warm friendly hug, "It's good to see you, we missed you."

"It's good to see you too, Tess," said Remy, "I missed you too. You look good."

"Thanks," said Tessa with a smile, "So do you." She talked to him in a completely friendly matter and Rogue couldn't help but notice that Remy didn't act like a Casanova around her and she wasn't swooned by him.

"Well, everyone, dis be Tessa. Tessa, dis be everyone," said Remy simply. They talked for a few moments, sharing jokes and laughter, until the man broke them up.

"Oh and I suppose I'm chopped liver, then huh?" replied Lucas.

"Yup," said Remy and he and Tessa continued to talk, while the large man rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Good to see you, too," he said sarcastically, with a grin, knowing their little routine.

"Yeah, really is, been awhile, Luke," said Remy.

"Oh my God," started Tessa, "the manly emotions shown is astounding!"

They both gave her a highly practiced deadpan look to which they all burst out laughing.

"Well, dis is Lucas, Lucas, dese be some o' de people at de Institute," said Remy.

"That's Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Logan, Ororo, Piotr and John," he said, introducing his friends to the newcomers. They exchanged greetings and pleasantries waiting for the rest to arrive.

Momentarily, they heard an almost noiseless sound of an engine. The only indication it was there at all was the prick of Logan's ears and him telling everyone to move off the road for the car to come safely. Suddenly, they heard a car come nearer and nearer. Before they knew it, a car had seemingly popped out of no where materializing on the front of the mansion. The twins could be seen arguing animatedly, causing Henri to shake his head and exit the car immediately with a sigh. This elicited a laugh from all those waiting on the steps of the mansion.

Seeing that the car had arrived, the small crowd from the steps moved to greet the ones exiting the car.

"500 bucks, Lapin, cough it up," boomed Henri as he exited the car, "Dere he is, Remy in de flesh."

"Oh fine," replied Lapin, rolling his eyes. Stepping out from the car, he reached into his jean pocket and fished out a wallet laden with money. Flipping a few crisp hundreds, he handed them over resignedly to Henri, who looked very proud of himself. Mercy rolled her eyes.

Remy laughed and walked over to greet his older brother.

"'Ey dere, Henri," he said.

"Bonjour, petite frere," replied Henri as the two met in a manly hug. They exchanged pleasantries.

"New haircut?" asked Remy of Henri's cropped hair.

"Yeah, well, Jacques stuck bubblegum in it and it wouldn't come out, so Mercy laid de damage," he explained.

"He's turning int' quite the little terror," said Remy, laughing.

"It's been a long time since y' were home, Remy," said Mercy as she approached with two year old Jacques in her arms, "it's good t' see y'."

"Good t' see y' too, Mercy," said Remy genuinely.

"How de hell d' y' stand it in de cold?" she asked, being the Southerner that she was, she despised the cold weather of New York.

"I don't," said Remy simply, causing Mercy to laugh.

Remy gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek, taking Jacques from her arms and making funny faces at him, causing the two year old to laugh. This caused Rogue to smile. He was good with kids.

"Y're funny, Oncle Remy," said Jacques.

"So I've been told," said Remy, tapping his nose, "I hear y've been livin' up t' de reputation o' all LeBeau children." Jacques nodded.

"Well o' course, Rem, he's got us dere!" exclaimed Lapin.

"Yes, no one is better than us than causing mayhem," started Emil.

"Disorder," said Lapin.

"And chaos," finished Remy, "its nice t' see y' haven't changed."

"Change, us?" asked Lapin shocked.

"Never, Remy, never," said Emil.

"Are all de femmes here dis belle?" asked Lapin, eyeing the females on the steps with appreciation, causing them to roll their eyes.

"Yeah, dey are," said Remy, "y'd better be careful, mos' o' dem are taken."

"Damn, dey always are," said Emil.

Just then, with some help from Henri, the elderly, but always lively Tante Mattie stepped out from the car and went over to greet Remy.

"Bonjour, Tante," called out Remy.

"Oh, Remy!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheeks and enveloping him in a tight hug, "I've missed y' chile, y' look thin." Remy laughed at that.

"I always look thin t' y'," he said. Tante Mattie just shook her head and then remembered something.

"Y' don't call, y' don't write. What de hell is wrong wit' y', chile!" asked a plump Black woman going up to Remy and smacking him upside the head.

"Ouch, Tante," said Remy rubbing the back of his head. Everyone laughed at his expense.

"Ya so deserved that, Swamp Rat, it's been a long tahme coming," drawled Rogue.

"A Southerner," mused Tante Mattie, "Introduce me, chile."

"Oui. Tante, dis be Rogue, Rogue, dis be m' Tante Mattie," said Remy with a laugh as he lead her over to Rogue.

"Pleashah ta meet ya," said Rogue politely.

"Same t' y'," said Tante Mattie, "Remy, I like dis fille."

"I like her too," said Remy with a smirk and a wink, causing Rogue to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"I really like dis fille," said Tante Mattie.

"Wow, Remy, I can't believe it. She's unaffected," said Emil amazement and shock on his features.

"She's a goddess that must be worshipped," said Lapin, going up to her and reaching her hand to bring up to his lips for a kiss. Rogue retracted her hand immediately and looked at him like he was a disgusting bug.

"Are they all lahke this?" asked Rogue.

"Unfortunately," said Mercy, "I'm Mercy." She shook hands with Rouge.

"Remy, y're bein' rude," said Tante Mattie, "Introduce us, please."

"A'right, Tante," said Remy.

"Dese be my friends, Piotr, John, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Logan and Ororo, dis be mon famille, Henri, Mercy, Jacques, Emil, Lapin and Tante Mattie and my friends, Tessa and Lucas," he made the appropriate gestures to each person as he spoke. Soon, they all exchanged greetings with each other.

"So you're the woman who trained Gumbo," said Logan to Tante Mattie.

"House broke, mo' like," said Tante Mattie, "It's so good t' see y' Ororo. It's been much too long."

"It really has, Tante," said Ororo as she and Tante Mattie met in an embrace.

"Well, I'm freezing m' ass off, can we go in, now?" asked Emil in a whiney voice.

"Don't be so rude, Emil," admonished Tessa.

"But I'm SO cold," said Emil, causing Tessa to roll her eyes.

"You're such a big baby, LeBeau," said Lucas.

"Am not, that's Lapin," said Emil. That earned him a smack upside the head from Lapin and an argument to start between them.

"Well, Remy, Emil does have a point," said Mercy, "and I'm sure that y're all freezing wit' out y' jackets."

"O' course, follow us, we're meeting every one else in de professor's study," said Remy and they all followed the group from the Institute into the mansion in small clusters of people.

"Vell, Remy's family really does seem razher…" started Kurt as he, Kitty, Piotr and John talked quietly about them as they made their way out of the cold.

"Eccentric," suggested Piotr.

"Actually, Oy'd go mo' with insane," rebutted John.

"That's only because you are insane," said Kitty.

"Oy'll take that as a compliment, Sheila," said John, causing his three other companions to shake their heads.

All of a sudden, Remy's arm was circled around Rogue's arm, bringing her close to his warm hard body. She turned to shoot him a glare and move out of his grasp, but his grip was too strong and he simply said, "Y' looked cold, chere."

"Whatevah, Swamp Rat," said Rogue, moving out of his hold, her arms still folded against her chest, due to the cold of the February snow. She was wearing a thick strapped black tank top underneath an emerald green off the shoulder T-shirt with black designs on it. She wore a pair of sheer black gloves that went past her elbows and left an inch of her milky skin bare from the sleeve of her T-shirt. A short purple velvet gloves that stopped just past her wrists went over the long ones with a set of studded leather wrist cuffs. She had an olive green zip up hoodie over top. On her pale neck was a black satin ribbon chocker with a twisted silver charm attached to it as well as a silver Celtic cross pendant that dangled from a dark purple ribbon on her collar bone. She wore a pair of wide legged baggy cargo pants, with many zippers, pockets, chains, ribbons, and other nick nacks with a studded purple belt. A pair of clunky thick purple and black suede boots completed the look.

She walked off, leaving Remy with a smile, shaking his head, lagging behind the rest going into the Institute in his black T-shirt, navy hoodie, worn jeans, belt, fingerless gloves and leather boots.

Seeing them interact brought a smile and a knowing look to his family and friends that were gathered behind him, following him and the others into the professor's office. While the others hurried ahead to get out from the frosty cold, Henri lagged behind with his brother.

"Y' like her," said Henri, in a slightly taunting tone, "Y' really l_ike_ her, dat Rogue."

"Well, yeah, considerin' she's m' friend," said Remy, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Since when have y' been 'just friends' wit' a femme?" asked Henri.

Remy scoffed, "Tessa's m' friend and a girl as well as de entire female population at de Institute."

"Keep tellin' y'self dat, frere," said Henri, patting his brother's head like a dog, as he hurried inside from the cold ahead of Remy, leaving him lagging again to ponder his words.

* * *

After introductions had been exchanged in the Professor's study and the seating had been rearranged, Henri took the stage and began to explain the events that led up to their fleeing from New Orleans. 

"For y't' understand everythin' y' have t' understand de workings o' de Guilds," started Henri, "De t'ings we do are pretty self explanatory by our names, de Theives and de Assassins. For centuries now, we've been rivals. De Guilds originated in France, but de ones in N'Awlins have been especially notorious fo' de war and especially de ill will between dem. True, de Guilds have a natural dislike fo' each ot'er, but not'in' as bad as want we have in N'Awlins. De blood o' thousands has been spilt, and dere is no end in sight."

"So when Remy was 12, mon pere, de Guild leader o' de Thieves, and Marius Boudreaux, Guild leader of the Assassins formed a marriage pact dat was t' unite de Guilds and end de war. De pact decreed dat Remy would marry de Assassins leaders' daughter, Belladonna when he turned 18. By uniting de families, de Guilds would be united and de war would end. Except dat dere was wide opposition t' it on bot' sides and instead o' ending de war and bringing about peace, it only increased it and bought about mo' bloodshed on bot' sides," explained Henri.

"Wit' de marriage looming and such opposition t' it, a year befo' de event, de Guilds hired an outside party, named Candra t' help settle de tensions on bot' sides. She is a powerful businesswoman and mutant. Her power suppresses her age, making her live a near immortal life. Wit' her blood, she is able t' make a potion t' control de mind o' de drinker t' her liking. De woman is ages old an' because o' her power and support o' bot' Guilds fo' as long as de records stretch, she was enlisted t' help wit' de tensions and put dem t' rest," retold Henri.

"T' make us swear our allegiance t' her, she initiated de tithe, where we have t' give her much of our gains and made many o' de important members o' bot' Guilds drink de potion she made from her blood, de Elixir of Life. Many on de Assassins Guild t'ought dat de Elixir would give dem strength and superiority and eagerly drank it, becoming twisted and completely in Candra's control. De most tainted ones being de Boudreaux family. However, de Thieves t'ought differently, but realizing dat refusing Candra would be fatal t' bot' sides and not ending de war would be murderous, mon pere, de Guild master o' de Thieves had no choice but t' drink it as well," conveyed Henri.

"Like wit' de Assassins Guild members, it tainted his t'oughts, making him greedy and vengeful. He became an entirely different man and began t' use all o' us Thieves t' further his material gain, especially Remy. In dis way, she took control o' both Guilds wit' both leaders under de influence o' her powers. She had de Thieves t' make her rich and de Assassins t' kill all who opposed her. By de time we realized dat she had no intention t' save de Guilds by ending de war and was controlling all de leaders o' de Guilds, it was too late. Add t' dat, Remy's powers going haywire and de attempted assassination o' us, and y' got a major catastrophe," sighed Henri. (More details in Chapter Three, for those who've forgotten, it's in Remy's talk about his past)

"De Assassins had attempted t' murder us so dat de wedding would be called off, and it was in de end. Dere was uproar on bot' sides and soon enough, de war intensified ten fold and de need for weapons and defenses means dat we must work more diligently and because o' dat, Candra gets richer. Plus, she often offers bonuses and gifts t' de side dat pleases her more. Remy was blamed for everything and it was getting' harder and harder fo' him t' get out wit'out being attacked. De mutant bigotry in N'Awlins intensified tenfold, due to Candra's egging," informed Henri.

"At dis time, Remy's powers also got worse an' worse and Magneto had come a' knockin' but we didn't trust him. So when Stormy and de professor were visitin' once, he made a stop t' help Remy. He got better, but not fo' long and so he supposedly turned t' Magneto and signed his contract. We're still tryin' t' figure out how he pulled dat one over us. Anyway, after Remy left, it got even worse," revealed Henri.

"And dat brings us t' why we're here. Y' see, de war between de Thieves an' Assassins got worse, much worse. We had no choice but t' leave. De Assassins who are in complete control by Candra are constantly trying t' kill de famille and de bloodshed is getting worse, all because Candra has got a new trump card. We knew because dey all t'ought dat Remy was out o' de way or dead, dat dey wouldn't look fo' us here. We left last night after dere last Assassination attempt, dey're was a mutiny of sorts an' de Assassins were able t' penetrate de mansion o' de Thieves. Dere was an attack, but luckily none o' us were hurt. Jean-Luc, mon pere, an' de leader o' de Thieves ordered us t' flee, not t' tell anyone, jus' t' flee. We left him in the care of his personal assistant and our cousin Theoren and took Tessa and Lucas wit' us because dis concerns dem too, and mutants," enlightened Henri.

"Tessa, why don' y' tell dem what exactly Candra did, y're know dis better out o' all o' us?" requested Henri.

"Sure," started Tessa, "Well as you know, Candra is a powerful mutant who's powers allow her to live almost agelessly like an immortal. We're unclear on exactly how old she is, but there are records of her involvement as an outside partner in both Guilds as early as 1582 in Paris. Recently, Lucas, Henri, Emil, Lapin, Mercy and I have been secretly assigned to discover all we can about Candra in an attempt to rid her of the power she has over both Guilds," explained Tessa.

"What we found was astonishing. She has links to hundreds of Black market dealings, crime lords and big businesses and was using the Guilds to further her status in theses fields. However, it was one deal that caught our interest due to the sheer amount of money that she invested. She is one of the largest investors for William Stryker's Legacy Virus Project and William Stryker in general. She is a silent partner and the two have never met. She gets the majority of the reports and updates on Stryker's progress and the virus from Stryker personally. She's so secret that only she has records of ever doing business with him, and Stryker does not, except for a few random company names that are faked. I'm sure you're all questioning her motives in his projects, but the fact is, she benefits greatly from them as she cannot be harmed by the virus due to her powers. Candra is interested in personal gain and the virus is being used as one of the key factors to control the Guilds and stretch out the war to no end," explained Sage.

"You see, the Guilds reluctantly accept mutants in them, since they long have realized their usefulness, despite the opposition to them on both sides. Candra has been using the Legacy Virus to blackmail and recruit an elite group of mutants to do her bidding. With them, she is able to either help or hinder the status of one of the Guilds. She uses them to keep the Guilds in line, lend out to fight the opposing Guild and do specific deeds for the Guilds by leasing them out. If either side has use of her corps of mutants, they come out on top in the rivalry and war. But that's not all, for each Guild has many mutant members of its own and Candra can use the virus to cripple a Guild by taking out some of its mutant members, since they seem to be immune to her Elixir. In this way, she's keeping everyone in line to do her bidding, mutant or otherwise," enlightened Tessa.

"So far, the majority of the Assassins Guild has been either under the influence of the Elixir of Life or the Legacy Virus, either way, they have become mindlessly in Candra's control as all of their leaders have been taking the Elixir regularly as they believe it makes them stronger while the Thieves only take it at times that she has regulated that they must," summarized Tessa.

"Last night we left in part due to the attacks, but mostly to preserve our information and lives against Candra. We hold the majority of the evidence that can sink her. We don't know if she's onto us yet, but what we do know is that she had one of the members in the Thieves Guild who is under her control let in several Assassins and a mutant team into the mansion and attack us. Many lesser members of our Guild were killed, but we were only slightly weakened and persevered. Jean-Luc immediately knew that the Assassins were planning to weaken the Thieves and help Candra gain control permanently or destroy the Guild completely. So knowing what he did, Jean-Luc immediately sent us all away to protect his family and those with the scathing evidence against Candra," divulged Tessa.

"We came here knowing it was the most unlikely place to look for us as well as the fact that we have come across much information that you must want to know having to do with the abductions of the Brotherhood, Acolytes and Morlocks, who are for the time being just held captive, as Candra had information on this directly from Stryker himself to know the progress of the situation. Furthermore, Candra was most interested in one mutant who she felt if Stryker was done using for testing would be beneficial for her use, that is of interest to you all, Mutant #0783261-C84, Raven Darkholme, or I'm sure you know her better as Mystique," revealed Sage.

The raven haired mutant then took out a disc in her possession and inserted it into the computer. After a few moments, an image was shown on the screen: security footage of Mystique being held at an unknown location in bad conditions. It appeared that the room was purposely made to be cold, as there was ice forming on the walls. Mystique's lithe form was wrapped in a blanket and she was huddled in a corner. She looked ragged and thin. Her hair was dirty, her skin dry and cracked, caked with dirt and her eyes were weak, the fight still burning within, but diminished.

The air was taken from the room and the tension hung high for two mutants in the room, Kurt and Rogue. They didn't say anything and their faces were unreadable, but all who knew the story behind them knew that they were conflicted. Thankfully, before anyone could speak of them on the issue, Sage continued.

"She infiltrated one of the companies that Stryker owns that is posing as a front to develop the virus on December 4th , in Geneva, Switzerland, to find intel and was captured when too many unknowns in the mission she had planned came back to haunt her. She was close, but due to the newly installed security which had been implemented that day, she was caught and sent to Stryker permanently. He immediately took an interest to her and she's been one of his premier test subjects. Although whether or not, she'll be given to Candra is another matter. During her capture, she was able to hide some of Stryker's most dangerous plans which have since been deleted from all databases. Mystique has not revealed the locale of the data to any of her captors as of yet. So if we find her, she'll be able to tell us where she concealed the information, because right now, it appears that she's on our side," finished Tessa.

"The data she hid is of the most importance. It holds much of the details regarding Candra and the final stages of the Legacy Virus as well as Stryker's plans for it. When Mystique got a hold of it, he had all the evidence of it ever existing erased from existence. It is imperative that we find it, if we are to beat Stryker," informed Tessa. Remy was slightly surprised at the actions that Candra had committed and how far reaching they were, but after so long of her tyranny; he was somewhat expectant of it.

Kurt and Rogue bore identical stoic expressions on their faces, not revealing how they felt to the matters of their mother. On one hand, she was subjected to cruelty and torture that no person deserved. On the other, she was getting what was coming to her, what she deserved, maybe even as a form of punishment for all that she'd done to them. However, they couldn't deny that even she didn't deserve that, and she had been trying, trying to atone for her actions to them. Whether or not she was to be forgiven was to be seen.

(I really hope that you understand this, because it was really hard to write out, if it were up to me, it'd be, Candra is using Legacy Virus…yeah…it's bad…I hope the explanation is good, because I knew I would end up linking Candra and the virus, just didn't know how exactly.)

The meeting was then wrapped up and now that everyone now knew what was going on, the adults and senior members would be planning a strike once all the data they had was profiled and combined to reach the best conclusion.

Kurt and Rogue were the first out of the stifling room. Kurt immediately ported to his shared room with Evan and Rogue dashed out without a second glance. Both worried Kitty immensely and a look of concern was pasted on her features. However, the one thing she knew was that both needed space right now and it would not be beneficial to go after them just yet. Gambit had starred after the girl as she fled the room, but made no move to follow her. His gaze did not go unnoticed by his family members and those who knew him best.

* * *

It was later that night that Remy eventually found Rogue on the roof of the mansion. Making it appear as if they thought the same for it was one of the only places in the mansion to find sweet silence and peace of mind. He needed to take a break from the insanity of his family. The night of Westchester was significantly colder than the days. 

After the day's events, Remy's family and friends had settled into some of the many rooms in the Guest Wing of the mansion. They had settled in nicely and Remy had taken the day to reacquaint him with the family he'd left for so long and know the events that transpired in New Orleans in the time that he'd been away.

Dinner was a grand event with Tante Mattie insisting that she cook for them after imposing themselves into the mansion with help from Ororo, which made the feast absolutely delectable. It had been full of some of Remy's favorite southern and Cajun dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, blackened chicken, corn bread, catfish and tons of spices. Everyone had enjoyed it. Well, everyone except Kurt and Rogue who seemed understandably distant and removed from the others, while they chatted amicably. Kurt still stuffed his face, but without his usual jubilance and jovial attitude, not speaking throughout the meal. Rogue picked at her food, but got through her entire dish. She loved southern food, but her mood for it was all gone in her internal conflict.

He watched, leaning against a chimney as she sat on the very edge of the roof, clad in her long deep green down jacket with a fur rimmed hood. She still wore her clothes from that morning. Her hair was flapping in the cool wind, dancing and swirling behind her, mixing auburn with white, like a ghost possessed. With her jacket open, wanting to feel the cold, just to feel something and her knees clutched close to her body, she observed the snowy landscape before her with pained doe like emerald eyes, her breath visible in the frosty air, sitting on a woolen blanket to keep dry. It was late out, her cheeks were red and she was frozen to the bone, but she didn't care, even though she would have school the following day. Her cheeks had long become red from the cold and the metal of her piercings had frost on them.

Remy approached her noiselessly from behind, his chocolate brown trench coat billowing behind him, open as well to reveal the clothes he wore earlier that day. His breath came up in smoky white breaths as he stalked towards her and his ruby onyx eyes glowed crimson. Upon reaching her, he took his hand out from his pocket, reached out with his fingers, which were bare due to his fingerless gloves and ran it through the icy yet silky strands of her white bangs, tugging slightly, announcing his presence to her. He seemed obsessed with her snowy bangs, a fact which both frightened and excited the girl before him. Remy always seemed to take the chance and the risk to brush them from her face, tug at them gently or just touch them in general.

The grounds behind the mansion stretched before her covered in a thick coat of sparkling white snow. The mountains, lake, rivers and trees were all coated. The stars dotted the black orchid sky smeared navy. The moon hung, smiling mockingly. Dark clouds obscured the sky. Waves churned and crashed even in the cold beside the cliff where the jet hangar was, covering the thin beach with its violence, black and flaky. Wet snow that remained on the beach bunched together into clumps.

"Y' okay, chere?" he asked gently, taking a seat beside her on the edge of the roof on the blanket dangling his legs off it. He could feel her, the waves of pain, shock, betrayal, sadness, anger, spite and most of all confusion. He could always feel her. He didn't even try anymore.

"I'm fine," she said forcefully, as if trying to convince her of it, her voice hoarse and filled with torment.

Remy reached out with an arm and wrapped her, clutching her tightly, pulling her close to him, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder without touching his skin, comforting the Gothic girl more than he'd ever know. She didn't resist this time; just let him hold her, leaning her weight into him, letting him support her. She just stayed wrapped in his arms for a long period of time, unknown by measures. He didn't say anything after that except for one small statement, just letting her take relief from him.

"Y' look cold," he said simply.

Somehow, he always knew what she needed.

(I was gonna make this longer, but somehow it felt right to end it here. I was gonna include more Romyness, but now I'm just gonna save it for a big Romy chapter that I'm having next and the one after too. They'll be totally focused on them. I'm sure you'll be sick of it when I'm done. I did hint to a lot of it in this chapter though…so I hope you're happy with it and the way this chapter ends.)

* * *

And well, I'll be gone for awhile on vacation, not coming back until September, but I'll have my laptop with me, so I'm sure plenty of stories will be updated when I get back. This chapter was supposed to be longer with some more Romy moments, but as soon as I wrote that last scene, it just ended itself there, where I felt it was right, just because it'd ruin the moment with more dialogue. I hope to return from my vacation with plenty of updates, but asides from that, please review for me. I know a lot of you will be disappointed that you won't get a personalized review response, but I promise to email them out to you as long as I have your address. I am sort of devasted by the restriction. 

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_

Simba317


	8. Cracks

**Disclaimer:** WOW! Guess what! I don't own a goddamned thing! So there, don't sue.

**Author's Notes:** I had wanted to update 'URX' first…but I've decided I spent all July doing that…I want to get back to my baby, my first ficlet. That, and a little prodding from Hunza. I wanna talk to you, but the half way around the world thing is a real bummer. I left off last chapter at a really touching Romy moment that sorta wrought it's way into existence unexpectedly. Originally, it was much longer and what not…but I guess I'll have to supplement some of the material into this next chapter, plus, I didn't want their relationship to seem out of the blue, yet I don't want to have 20 odd chapters of interaction and no end result.

I'm updating at an odd time, but right now…my homework for IB is not too bad, so I figure…write a few hours while you can. Then work. Plus, it's Thursday, I can sleep in a bit because I get a ride to school! Mom has her day off, see. And I just seem to have this need to write, especially when all these ideas just wanna get out into the open and just Marvel, it's like my smite. Hey, instead of reading unfulfilling comics and getting pissed off and frustrated, turn to fanfiction, it's free too, and much more satisfying and broadly ranged. Oh yeah, and the fics I mentioned in 'TRtF' are not coming for awhile yet…but they're good, trust me on this.

Gosh, this is SO filled with Romy…just not necessarily fluffiness…Okay, it's angst. The actual plot takes a back seat as we address the Romy. It feels…well…long…There's something in the air…

I must say that I was saddened by the lack of reviews, but those that did really made me happy with their comments. So thank you. The up down rollercoaster of the review count really make me frustrated. Please review. It makes me happy and makes me wanna churn these out faster.

**Shout Outs:**

**Bored247:** Oh as for reviews, I think we all now know that it was a bunch of lies and rumors. I really fell in love with Remy's family due to 'From the Shadows' by Black Queen and I always find myself drawing on things that she wrote in there. It's really inspired a lot of my work, just as Goldylokz's 'Nine to Five', Slickboy444, Agent-G, Seven Sunningdale, Raven2687, Christy S, Neurotic Temptress and pretty much anything by Ish. These were all authors whose stories were really truly and absolutely got my mind spinning and addicted on fanfiction.

I'm really glad that you liked where I ended it…as soon as I wrote it, somehow, I knew that this was the place to stop and that anything more would ruin it. Mostly, I guess I wanted to show people a range of emotions. It starts off really explosive and sad, then gets bright, then ominous and finally just emotionally pained. I had a great time on vacation and apologize that there isn't all that much to read by me…I guess you could say I had way too much fun, but even though I missed fanfiction, it wasn't that bad.

**Ishy:** I'm glad that you find the Guild so amusing. I really tried to keep them that way, despite the looming darkness. I really thought of all people, Henri and Tante Mattie, just know Remy…so of course they have to see that Remy has a thing for Rogue. But of course, more Romyness awaits you and my what a Romyload it is. I don't think I've ever written a chapter filled with so much of it in present tense and not flashback. And I don't know, despite it all, Remy is a decent guy, even though it usually only shows itself with Rogue, so I had to show that and guess I let that show in the fact that he can feel her pain and wants to ease it. But not only that, just know what she needs, even when she doesn't ask for it. She really wants someone there, but can't ask for that and Remy sort of masks it as something else by saying she looked cold, because he gets her. It was strange how that worked out. I wrote that in the beginning to show him being flirty but it really unintentionally worked its way into the forefront again at the end, when I realized I could use that line. It surprised me, but I took it and ran.

Aww…I guess I really wanna show Rogue's conflict. She's a good person and well, the Mystique thing has always been conflicted, but I guess I've always wanted to see what motivates Raven Darkholme, because I don't believe that she's a truly evil person. I want things to work out for Rogue where she's happy and one of the things is a solution to Raven Darkholme. I suppose the reason I'm writing Mystique as I am is spawned from Slickboy444's Extermination. It's got no Romy, but it's a good read and you just see Raven in another light that's wonderfully done. And you're right, I wouldn't be that understanding either…but the thing is, I've always thought that in their hearts, Rogue and Kurt have always forgiven Mystique for all the crimes she's committed against them, she's their mother, for crying out loud. It's just that pain, grief and the past get in the way and the fact that they don't wanna get hurt again. As for the Pietro/Magneto/Wanda scene…I was totally milking the heart-wrechingness, but that's just the beginning, more heart wrenching scenes to come.

Ah, and after reading your review for 'TRtF'…well, I guess I really wanna try to change your perspective on Mystique because a crazy, homicidal, vindictive, spiteful, evil, queen bitch Mystique is so boring, old and clichéd. It's so much more interesting to know why she is who she is and see her try to repent for her kids. Because how do you do that after all your shit? It's more interesting than seeing her ruining lives time and time again. Take hint Marvel. I guess I just wanna dig deep and find out why she's that way and I think what you find will surprise you. I think she's a good person, but things got in the way of that…and wouldn't you rather have nice Mystique than Romy wreaking havoc Mystique? Plus, dare I say it, I wanna do Mystique angst...she's got quite the crap past like in 'URX'. Oh but I hearted your rant…I agreed with it SO MUCH…it made me laugh at the pushing up daisies, six feet under, eternal dirt nap part…and made me growl in agreement for the others…Together, we shall smite Marvel…and you know what…who cares about the Marvel universe? They gave us awesome characters, let's just shape them the way we want and forget about the bull shit they're doing. Okay, I can't do the alter without the engagement part…which will hopefully come next chapter…so yeah, the alter will be chapter six or seven to conclude the whole shebang. OH and for the record, MARVEL CLEARLY IS INSANE! It's like an unbreakable law of physics, a big fat duh, an inner working of the universe…

As usual, thanks for the review. I think I must write for you. I mean, I'm only happy about getting my reviews when yours pops up. It just makes me so happy to see.

**MagCat:** Everyone loves the LeBeaus apparently. Tessa and Lucas, a couple? Why yes, eventually. Erik and Mastermind the only Acolytes? No. As stated in previous chapters, Magneto's recruited some newbies that really truly believe in his cause, whether by manipulation or prodding. That's why he saw Remy, Piotr and John as expendable, thus sending them in on their Colorado mission in Chapter Three. Sorry, but I didn't get your email…for some reason, sensors things like emails, too many of one letter, symbol or word showing up or chat room symbols in the reviews, so I didn't get your email. You have to write it, for example email at hotmail dot com, for it to show up…websites too. It's also like that when you upload stuff on document editor. Thanks for the review.

**Dannonspring:** Thanks for your compliments. As for the boys, we'll see…I'm not too sure about a trick right now…but I'm sure it'll show up somewhere…Taunting, why of course…and John and Piotr will make a confrontation as will Henri. Do whatever I want with it…? Hmm…maybe I should wreak some Romy havoc…evil laugh…no really, I'm just kidding…Thanks for the review.

**Enchantedlight:** Thanks for the review.

Okay, here we go, here's one for you, Hunza…the next chappie to A Mutated Existence.

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER EIGHT: CRACKS**

&

If she didn't know better, she would've sworn that she was back at Magneto's lair. The floor and walls that surrounded her on three sides were all the pale blinding silver of a special metal alloy which was plated over the foundations in plates. What sparse furniture that lined her cell was all hard cold metal as well, except black. The sink, toilet, bolted unbreakable mirror, the bed, chair and desk was all she had. Fluorescent white lights from above shined down on her, cold and taunting and the security cameras blinked angry red, watching her every move like a leering man. The final touch was in the sliding gate with several panels obscuring her view of more cells like hers. It was black, with a key pad on the front for key card, fingerprint, voice, DNA and retina identification. However, the kicker was the electric field that was between the bars that only electrocuted those with a mutant X-gene and boy, was that ever painful. If it wasn't the electric field that caused her unbound pain, it were the still, silent, peering guards outside her cell with the black army style fatigues, hat, mirror like sunglasses and armed with many firearms with the likes of pistols, guns and a ready rifle, as well as many knives, hidden on their person. All were tools used to cause harm to any who opposed and the dark marks on her body showed that. And yet, more defensive equipment lay outside her cell as well.

Raven Darkholme sat on her thin mattress with its worn blanket and sheets, impassive and proud, head held high, despite it all, unwilling to bend and submit. Her body was without the sagged shoulders of the defeated, but the courage of one who refused to be shamed. Her eyes were closed, but none thought for a second she was not fully alert. She was in meditation with her legs folded beneath her gracefully and her hands on her knees, relaxed, yet ready to strike at a moment's notice, a cobra in the bushes.

The fire engine red hair that was once bright and lustrous was now dull and greasy. Her luxurious cobalt blue skin was baring the marks of the beaten and now appeared grayish and dry. Her lips were cracked, her fingernails dirty and her eyes ringed with the look of no sleep, but her eyes were still a brazen gold, refusing to fade, to die. She wore simple clothing, a white tank top and black sweat pants that were caked with grime. A collar dangled from her neck, completely of metal, blinking a green light in mockery, suppressed her God given abilities. She looked a broken woman, but that was only on the surface, inside, was a different story.

Raven didn't know anymore just how long she had been here. Time became irrelevant. All that mattered was that she was surviving and that was all that she could hope for. In her mind, she planned, waited and schemed for the perfect moment to come by her freedom, catch it's tail and hold on, but for now, she was satisfied with holding onto dignity and knowing that it was how she was winning the war right now. She would not give them the satisfaction of weakness, of seeing her broken. Raven outright refused that. She had been through worse so nothing they really did could compare to the trials she'd faced and that was her advantage. She had been Mystique too long to be saved from pain.

Enduring was not so bad when she had lived it before so many times, but she couldn't deny that it was all she could do to keep from weakening and it was only by a narrow margin. Her body was weak, malnourished, bruised, battered and cut, her mind churning like stormy waves for ideas, her emotions were chaotic and tormenting, but her spirit was unbreakable, a fortress of steel and her captors had yet to climb the jagged cliffs to the fortress. Her will was fathomless and keeping her alive. Tricks still resided in her sleeves.

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. The sounds of footsteps against the metal floor of the hall in front of her cell were picked up by her attentive ears immediately. Her eyes opened immediately, but she didn't give up her relaxed stance, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing her bristle to attack, show them her need to defend herself or to cower in fear.

Her line of vision finally became aware to three men. Two dressed in dark military fatigues, armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry. One in a black turtleneck sweater, navy cargo pants, dark combat boots and a pristinely white lab coat. The third also wore a pair of thin framed silver glasses. It was William Stryker and his guards prepared for another day at the lab. It all became the same really, he not only gathered data on mutant anatomy to further his virus, he also loved to do it in the most painful way possible. But pain she could take, tolerate and Stryker had grown tired of her iron will, her fierce will forbidding her to shatter. He longed to break her.

The first guard slid his key card into the slot and when the okay was signaled with a beep and blinking light, he placed his palm on the cool surface for fingerprint and DNA identification, looked into a ray for retina scans and spoke a codeword for voice confirmation. When all was correct, another beep and a blue light emitted from the pad and the gate slid open, but the electric field was still in effect. All three foreboding and ominous men, all tall and well built stepped through unaffected.

Stryker approached her like a wolf stalking his prey.

"Well, Mystique, we go to the labs again. I really do love your insides," bellowed Stryker jovially, "Do behave." He motioned for the guards to take her out. They each grabbed an arm and hoisted her up, prepared to drag her there if need be, but she conceded with walking feet.

At the open gate, Stryker motioned his guards to stop and approached Mystique, leaning his head to her ear.

"I _will _make you scream, beg for mercy. I _will_ make you break, fall into submission. I _will_ make you bleed; your wounds festered with pain. I _will_ take you all, make you watch them cry out. _I will kill you all_…All this I swear to you, before you leave this earth," he whispered coldly, viciously into her ear.

She simply looked at him with unbreakable golden eyes.

* * *

Rogue awoke to an ache in her head, a dull buzz that was sure to grow to higher levels of pain, wondering how the hell she ended up in bed. Slowly, the fog began to lift and it all came back to her. The last thing she remembered was…OH CRAP!

The last thing she remembered was sitting on the roof, the pitch black of the mysterious sky, those eerie stars, the biting winter cold through her jacket, her disorderly emotions running amok and…_letting the **SWAMP RAT **hold her._ He held her so close to him, so intimate and caring, not saying a word, just letting her feel the warmth from his body thawing her bitter state of mind, feel the intoxicating comfort rolling off him in waves, easing her suffering, feeling the touch that somehow made her feel so alive when everything surrounding her life was so dead to her and just soaking up his wondrous presence. In that moment, she had been at peace, the chaos of her mind had stilled, time had frozen and she was just there with him.

She remembered her eyes getting heavy, with her head resting against his solid chest, concluding that he must've taken her inside when she fell asleep as she was still in yesterday's clothes, tucking her into the warm bed next to…Kitty's. She could only hope that her roommate didn't notice that.

Yet this was not the only thing that drew anxiety to the forefront of her head. No, there was the fact that she was certain the pain in her head was building. There was something more though, what was it?

Stepping out of bed, pushing aside the heavy blankets and going over to her calendar and consulting the words underneath the large emblazed number, she read the caption underneath. It was a caption that lay heavy on her heart and brought to the forefront everything that was unfair, brutal, cruel, tormenting and painful about her life. Tears streamed down her fair, alabaster skin, glowing ethereally cold in the bright morning light.

It was Valentine's Day.

* * *

Remy was hit by a sudden wave of deep despair, making him breathe sharply in pain. He had felt the utter hopelessness, the suffering of one girl, the one girl he wished he could just take it all away from, so that she could smile just once for him. Knowing that it was her, it was Rogue somehow wears at his soul. Why was it that he felt her emotions unchecked every minute of the day? How was it that he knew so well the pain she felt every day? He wasn't even trying to, he was blocking his empathy, yet her emotions always seemed to sift thought. Why? Yet, in his ponderings, never was a true answer reached.

He supposed he was growing close to the girl, surprisingly so. She'd become a close friend, a best friend, so fast. Yet, how could he feel her all hours of the night and day? Her misery killed him each day, knowing she was hurting constantly. Somehow, knowing all she did to hide, all her tears tore him up inside. Why it was that someone so beautiful must suffer so much agony? Suddenly, he was hit with the urge to go to her, but he was pulled from this idea when his brother spoke to him.

"Y' alright, Remy?" asked Henri, concerned at his brother's sudden sharp intake of breathe.

The outside air was thick and cold, while Henri and Remy strolled outside in the cold morning light, lighting everything pale gold. Breaths came out in puffs of white air and they were both bundled up in warm winter clothes, but of course Remy had his trench coat, as always. Snow coated the ground they walked around the Institute.

"'M fine, Henri, jus' m' empathy pickin' up something," he replied nonchalantly, but his brother knew him too well.

"Who's?" he asked simply, somehow already knowing the answer.

Remy sighed, a conceding sound, knowing that he couldn't lie to Henri, because he'd already seen all his cards.

"Rogue's," uttered Remy softly, letting the name dance off his lips, sacredly.

Henri let out a laugh, "She's really done a number on y' frere. I've never seen y' have so many problems with a femme and de so called king o' hearts, nonetheless."

Remy groaned, rolled his eyes, shaking his head and walked off in the cold of the morning air of the frigid outdoors, where he was taking a stroll with his brother before heading on the bullet train to university.

"Oh c'mon, admit it, y' got a t'ing fo' her!" shouted Henri to his brother's retreating back before running to catch up with his long strides.

"We're friends," said Remy simply. Yet, he knew how hollow that word was, how inadequate it was in describing what lay between them. There was a connection between them plain and simple, however, it was denied by both of them, yet it still existed nonetheless. He couldn't deny that there was something between them, but he couldn't admit that either. There were a million conversations based on seemingly nothing, gentle laughter when their lives, their pasts were anything but funny, a humble understanding of each other, fully knowing exactly who they were and undeniably, the fact that they couldn't hide from each other. They knew each other's truths, when others only saw the surface. Without ever asking, ever telling, they knew each other's deepest secrets. Everything they said to each other seemed to have hidden meanings to be interpreted, but only they knew the code.

Henri gave him a deadpan look and said, "Suuurre."

"We are, we're close friends and she happens t'be a girl, like Tess. I don't see y' making such a fuss about Tessa," rebutted Remy, glaring back at his brother menacingly, imploring him to drop the subject, trudging in the deep snow. In their short time in constant companionship, they somehow clicked and bonded, knowing their pains that were so similar. Through acidic words and accusations, some strange, indefinable relationship formed.

"Dat's because she's like y' sister, and Rogue is in no way y' sister, frere," explained Henri, "Admit it, y' like her. Let's take baby steps here."

"Umm…" said Remy, a thoughtful look crossing his face before switching to a sarcastic deadpan, "How 'bout non, because there's not a THING between us whatsoever." He made frantic hand gestures at the word 'thing'.

"Riiiight, say what y' want, but y' know I'm right, Remy and everyone sees it. Tante sees it.

"Well den y' should all get glasses, y're all blind!" exclaimed Remy, flustered.

Henri just snorted, "Mebbe y' should."

"Non," said Remy.

"Oui," argued Henri. This went on for some time with the pair still strolling in the snowy grounds around the Institute.

Henri let out a pained sigh, seeing both sides of this in Remy's eyes, "I t'ought y' were over Genevieve."

"I am," responded Remy hardly.

"Y're not very convincing," said Henri.

"Don't psychoanalyze me, frere, just don't," pleaded Remy, "Let it lie."

"Fine," conceded Henri.

"You can't deny dat y' find her beautiful and attractive, despite it all," said Henri after a period of continued silence only interrupted by the shuffling of feet on snow.

"Dat's not letting it lie," responded Remy carefully, feeling backed into a corner.

"Answer de question," pushed Henri, knowing that Remy couldn't lie to him. He knew all his tricks, why, he'd even taught him some of them.

Remy sighed, shaking his head, staring at the sky, asking for her to grace his wishes and make his nosy brother back down, just this once.

"Yes," replied Remy at last, reluctantly, "She's…beautiful…and I don't deserve dat." The last words were whispered so quietly, Henri had to strain his thief's ears to hear them. Still, a mountain, an ocean, a wall of steel, rock, concrete stood between them. He found her to be beautiful in every meaning of the word. She was incredible to him, a rose with thorns, yes, but so much more. When he was with her, he forgot about his burdens.

She was so strong on the outside, yet on the inside, she was turbulent and fighting for some sense of control over her chaotic life, barely holding on. However, each day she managed to succeed, even if by a frail thread. She was brave to carry on with life, when it offered her so little but a faint promise of hope, hidden somewhere.

There was a vigilantly hidden personality underneath thorny words, ample amounts of makeup and carefully crafted Gothic clothing. She was incredibly smart, sassy, witty and funny, yet this sadness hung palpably to her aura, never fading, always building. It showed itself in her creativity, her poetry, writings and artwork, a chilling reminder of her sad life. He could see the way she hid behind excuses, clothing, attitude, power and past and wanted nothing more than to free her from that, anything else, he felt, was irrelevant.

Still, she was hauntingly beautiful. There was something in those emerald eyes that drew him in, lured him to her, and intrigued him. Her alabaster skin, pouty full lips and matching pure white locks amidst red auburn hair only added to her unique beauty. Yet, all these features were constantly enraptured with a sadness unbreakable, so he couldn't help but try and make her smile, because he knew that in that moment, a piece of her soul broke through, lighting up her face and for a moment, left behind the misery. He was honored that she smiled for him.

Henri could only stand, watch and guess as to why his brother thought himself undeserving of Rogue, however, he had some concise ideas. Remy continued walking before looking over his shoulder to address his brother.

"M' goin' t' get ready fo' class now. I'm leavin' soon fo' de train wit' John and Piotr," said Remy, heading inside the imposing doors of the Institute's front doors, leaving his brother outside to decide what to do.

* * *

The angel was weeping on her messy bed, her pure white hair obscuring her face marred by tears. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, her head resting on them, her entire body shaking with uncontrollable sobs. She looked so completely broken, it broke his heart, yet no one would ever see that except him. No one ever saw her weakened. It was how she survived each mocking day. He didn't doubt that she'd be putting on a mask soon.

Remy watched her, full of sorrow, eyes dulled, from a crack in her curtains from the French doors of the balcony, using every trade of the thief for stealth, using every ion of will and strength to not go in there and comfort her. No, she never wanted anyone to see her so utterly despondent. So he stood there, helpless watching her, hoping that she came out of this new bout of hopelessness soon. All he did was send her some semblance of calm and warmth, hoping it was enough.

After some time, he watched as she slowly left her state of sobs, calming down, just staying still, emerald eyes heavy and red from tears, face still twisted with sadness, but calmed, basking in the golden glow of the early morning sun. Somehow that pleased him enough, knowing that she would be okay for now, letting a smile cross his lips.

"Be well, mon ange," he whispered, before creeping back into his room.

* * *

Rogue didn't know why, but she didn't question it, why all of a sudden everything seemed to just be okay for one peaceful moment where she felt alright. She knew it wouldn't last, but for now, she just let herself bathe in it, savoring it, before that headache started up stronger than the last and the whispers of the psyches became howls of anger.

The sound of the door opening alerted her to someone entering the room, but she didn't move, just sniffed her nose a bit.

"Hey!" came the cheery voice and mood of one Kitty Pryde, clashing vividly with the somber mood of the room and Rogue. Her mood shifted dramatically when she noticed her despondent roommate.

She approached her cautiously.

"Hey," she said softly, shyly, "You okay?" At that moment, she could tell that her friend needed a hug and without hesitation, enveloped her in a hug from behind.

Rogue sighed, defeated; Kitty knew if she was lying immediately, "I will be."

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked hopefully.

"No," said Rogue quietly.

Kitty was persistent though, bless her heart, "I know it really hurts you to have to deal with Mystique again after all that she put you and Kurt through, and I don't blame you if you wanna just forget about her. But maybe, just maybe you could give her a chance, set things straight. Maybe she's changed, maybe she hasn't. All you have to do is find out where she stands now and then play it by ear and go from there."

"Ah suppose," whispered Rogue.

"You know so," stated Kitty, "and I just don't believe that she's the only reason you're so glum."

"It's just this day," said Rogue slowly.

"What's so wrong about today? I mean it's only—Oh!" exclaimed Kitty, finally getting it, "Oh," she repeated sadly, not knowing what to say to make her friend feel better. So they just stayed motionless, watching the morning rays of the sun, Kitty lending her comfort and alleviation from loneliness for a moment.

"There's Remy, you know?" said Kitty after a long period of silence.

Rogue escaped her embrace and turned rapidly to face her friend, shrieking, "WHAT?"

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you SO like him."

"Katherine Rebecca Pryde, Ah do NOT lahke him," said Rogue indignantly, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms on her chest.

"There is SO totally something like, between the two of you," said Kitty, crossing her arms as well.

"No, there isn't," said Rogue forcefully, "We're just friends, that's all, end of story." They were close though, connected and bonded. She felt something stir inside her when he was with her and fed off his happiness. She felt herself melt and become truth in his light, his penetrating gaze. She felt real, normal even. He was fearless, it seemed and wasn't afraid to touch her, ever. It scared her, more than anything in the whole wide world.

"Uh-huh…and pigs fly," said Kitty sarcastically.

"Argh," called out Rogue, throwing her arms to the air and stalking away from her friend in a huff.

"Ohmigod! I just realized something," called Kitty.

"Ohmigod! Newsflash! Katherine Pyrde had a thought," voiced Rogue sarcastically.

Kitty ignored that, "Remy only calls you 'chere'," said Kitty triumphantly, "and you only call Remy 'shugah'. It means dear or darling, doesn't it? How sweet!"

"It must be a subconscious response, that's a way of labeling or marking each other," mused Kitty, figuring it all out, "because there's something definitely there that you guys just won't admit to. It's the only explanation to the terms of endearment."

"Ah give up!" cried Rogue, looking to the heavens…or the ceiling.

"Admit it, you think he's way hot!" called out Kitty, standing up as well.

"NO WAY IN HELL and he is NOT hot," replied Rogue. She would never admit just how absolutely completely handsome Remy LeBeau was and not just in looks. He was just amazing to her. Remy was the most captivating person she knew, so enshrouded in mystery, one she wished to solve. She could see his deepest thoughts, his innermost secrets and his nagging pain. Somehow, she knew that he understood her and that he understood her. In her heart, she thought him infinitely attractive and if she were completely true with herself, she'd admit that she dreamt of ruby embedded onyx eyes, smirking lips and wind tossed copper auburn hair.

She could sense the pain in him left behind by countless ruthless heartbreakers, the scars which festered from betrayal and the regretful sins which haunted his memory. What she wouldn't give to see those difficulties vanish from those beautiful eyes, those ensnaring, emotional, glimmering eyes. Her heart soared when he smiled in actuality, not a smirk, a smile, true and sweet. It was for her, just for her. A little secret that passed between them. To her, he was so sweet and kind, offering some good humor to take her pain away for awhile.

She knew that he suffered. Maybe because she knew his past, his mind, but she still saw it. She saw that he was so vibrant, so charismatic, so energetic and free, when inside he was suffering, dying and caged, wrapped in chains isolation. He isolated himself from any true meaningful relationships with the opposite sex romantically. She saw it from the first moment he stepped back into her life, when he talked of his past, his psyche reemerged in her head and she saw it, experienced it. He hid it though, carefully, in that flirty, cocky womanizing shell.

His past, so full of death, pain, blood, tears and violence haunted his mind, replaying all the blood spilt on his hands, all the lives lost because of him. Guilt and self loathing dominated him, but still, there was some semblance of joy and strength he showed to the world, spitting in the face of his demons, a last stand, before they ate him alive, to get the last word, the smartass. He slept with hundreds of women, searching for that one, halfheartedly, knowing it would hurt to fall again and that this was the only way to stay alive.

He was the aching disaster, the bad boy. Yet, in his heart was a pure heart, just wanting to do the right thing. However, circumstances got in the way. Still, he knew all her secrets, never did it pass verbally between them, but he still knew them and she knew his. Something linked them, something undistinguishable. He was so easy to talk to, someone who didn't judge at all for anything that passed through her mouth to his listening ears and she listened to him in return. There was an easy friendship, too easy, some would say that spawned from insults and sharp words.

Kitty sent her a deadpan look, "Riiiight, out of all the girls here…you're _the_ only one who thinks he's not hot. True, you're not one to follow a crowd or a trend, but the boy is an Adonis and whether you admit to yourself or even me is irrelevant, because you DO like him."

Rogue let out a sigh before blasting, "Fine, he's FUCKING GORGEOUS, happy?" emerald eyes ablaze with fury, conceding.

"Very," said Kitty with a smile, knowing that she was revealing more to her with that statement than she actually said. One just had to learn to read the Rogue Code.

"Now take a chance with him, it's Valentine's Day," suggested Kitty.

"Ah cahn't do that, Kit, you know Ah cahn't. Ah never can," said Rogue sadly, the fight leaving her body.

"Stop it, Rogue. Stop it," said Kitty loudly, "Stop giving up on everything. Stop making excuses for yourself. Stop trying to hide yourself from life because of all the pain and suffering. Why don't you just bite them all in the ass like the person we all know you are and tell them to screw off! Just live and be free for once," She was ranting now, emotional and edged.

A look of utter sorrow crossed Rogue's face for a brief moment, but Kitty noticed. Rogue sighed; she could feel that headache building strong.

The sound of the door opening interrupted the standoff.

"Guten Morgen," greeted Kurt slightly gloomy from the door, not noticing the tension in the atmosphere of the room, too torn to notice it. Everything about the boy drooped, his shoulders, his tail, his ears, even his fur.

He hadn't looked up to see Rogue and Kitty yet, just said, "Ve're vanted for breakfast soon and it's only us in our car to school." Rogue, Kitty and Kurt shared one of the Institute's cars, a very nice Mercedes-Benz sedan. It had been given to them since they were all 'mature and responsible', had their driver's licenses and as a nice little reward for being 'role models.' However, sometimes, they had to car pool a few of the younger recruits without rides. It looked like Monday morning had been nice to them for once.

Looking up, he appeared puzzled at the frozen tense state of Rogue and Kitty, finally realizing something was up between the two, as the atmosphere washed over him. Immediately, the drooping faded and he became alert, "Am I interrupting somezhing?"

"No," replied both girls monotonously in unison.

Kitty looked to Rogue with pleading eyes, making her final statement, before saying, "You two have got some things to sort out. I'll leave you guys to talk about it." She looked both in the eye, saying it, telling them they had to and once again, Kitty Pryde had meshed two people looking for avoidance and made them face their difficulty, the job of a matchmaker, some would say.

Kitty hurriedly left the room, leaving two people dumbstruck, not knowing what to say, and not knowing what to do. They looked at each other imploringly, trying to read each other's minds, which was useless as neither were telepaths.

It's wasn't even nine o' clock and she had already rammed into an experience she wasn't sure she should forget or not, felt the buzz of a headache sure to increase, swam through a pool of despair and waged a war of confrontation. It was not a good day, and now she had to face a confession. This day was shaping up to be terrible.

There was a terrible awkward silence, spanning long treacherous minutes. Neither knew what to say. They were both so unsure of how to handle this. Psychologically, it was messing them up, trying to think of a plausible solution.

"Vhat are you going to do?" asked Kurt, not needing to elaborate on what exactly.

"Ah don't know," replied Rogue, "It's so messed up. God, Kurt, if we do save her and by some miracle, she's changed, Ah just don't know what Ah'm gonna do."

"Ja," said Kurt, both siblings, sitting down on her bed, pondering things, "If ve forgive her and let her in, zhere's a chance zhat zhey're just more lies and we get hurt even more and I can't handle zhat. You can't eizher. If ve leave zhings as zhey are, we'll always vonder if zhings could be different, better even, but ve'd be safe."

"Yeah, and Ah just don't know what I should do, what Ah should choose. They both seem so horrible some way," agreed Rogue, torn, just as Kurt was.

"Sometimes, I vonder if she's even Raven Darkholme anymore. It's as if Mystique took over and Raven Darkholme doesn't exist anymore," mused Kurt.

"Ah know. At one point, she was kahnd and compassionate, but then she became cold, angry and vengeful," whispered Rogue, referring to her stolen memories.

Kurt nodded in understanding, "I guess ve'll only know vhat to do vhen zhe time comes."

"Yeah," said Rogue.

"It's your chance to make up for zhe past. It's all of our chances," mused Kurt, "I just don't know if I can."

"I know what you mean," said Rogue, remembering the time she pushed her 'mother' off the cliff in spite, anger and revenge, "Ah don't know if Ah can open mah heart to her after all she's done, to me, to you, to us, all of us."

Somehow Kurt knew that she was beating herself up for that, yet again, and took her gloved hand in his black furry one, lending her comfort and the hint of a smile to cross her lips. They just basked in the silence, lending each other comfort.

"Speaking of opening up hearts…." Trailed off Kurt, eyeing his sister with a curious expression. It was simple to see, even to him. Kurt could see it, just as Kitty, the sparks and attraction that seemed to fly almost tangibly when in the presence of the Cajun Thief and the Southern Belle. There was something there between the two of them, something more than just friendship. However more it was, it had yet to be defined and it was strange, not in love, just more than friends…yet lines were crossed somewhere and boundaries growing thin.

"Not ya too," said Rogue, getting annoyed, begging him not to wade into the waters of that subject. To Kurt, this only proved his suspicions. It wasn't that he didn't mind Remy being with Rogue, possibly, he just wanted to see his sister happy and she had smiled so much more with Remy around and she deserved to be happy, but for someone like her, it was rather difficult, to say the least. Sure, the man was a thief, but Kurt knew that the world wasn't black and white and that Remy had a good heart.

Kurt sighed, "To me, Kitty, Piotr and John, it's as plain as day. Zhere's somezhing zhere between you and Remy. Maybe you zhould let it grow. Maybe you zhould confront it head on, reap its rewards. Maybe it's vorth it. Maybe you zhould have faith zhat it vill vork out. Maybe it vill make you happy. Maybe, just maybe, it's vhat you've been vanting all your life."

"Maybe. Someday," said Rogue wistfully. Another silence took them, but neither talked, it wasn't uncomfortable, just reflection on their talks.

"Ve'd better go to breakfast before all zhe food is gone," said Kurt.

"It's always about food witcha," commented Rogue with a rare smile.

"It's vone of zhose constants in life," said Kurt, smiling back.

Rogue laughed, a tinkling sound, "Just let meh change, kay?"

"Sure," said Kurt.

* * *

Kurt and Rogue entered the breakfast nook unphased by the bickering power charged teenagers, the colorful display of powers, the clatter of something breaking and food being tossed into the air. It was pandemonium, but to them, it was normal. The New Mutants were seated near the entrance, the cause of the commotion, their loud ruckus overpowering the atmosphere of the room. In the middle of the long table were the majority of the adults trying to do some damage control. Well, Betsy and Warren were, but were ignored by the Newbies, Hank and the professor seemed to be turning a blind eye to the whole debacle, while Ororo and Logan sat at the head of the table at the other end, ignoring it completely. In between Logan and Ororo and the other adults, sat Remy and his family, John, Piotr and Kitty, buffeted by Hank, the professor, Betsy and Warren.

John looked like he was going to die without his coffee. He needed at least two cups to wake up and become his usual hyperactive self. He looked almost gaunt sipping his coffee, preparing to wake up. Piotr sat next to him, stoic, but launched in a conversation with Henri, beside him, on the art of Egon Shielle. Kitty sat across from Piotr chatting amicably with Mercy on fashion, who sat across Henri, all the while she took care of Jacques. Emil sat animatedly beside Jacques, making the boy laugh constantly, as did Lapin, who was across from Jacques. Tessa sat next to Lapin and made friendly conversation with Lucas beside her, while Tante Mattie was engaged in a conversation with Ororo and Logan beside Emil. Remy sat next to Lucas, talking to his old friends, catching up, while scooping in his food.

The siblings just entering the bedlam took in the seating arrangements. There was one beside Remy near the head of the table adjacent to Logan and one beside Kitty. Kurt slid into the vacant seat beside Kitty and across from John, slyly, leaving the only empty seat that happened to be right next to the Cajun…

Rogue gave her brother a dirty look. He gave her a cheeky grin, which earned him a death glare.

Rogue reluctantly plopped down into her seat next to the Cajun, looking worn from the emotional rollercoaster she had just experienced all before breakfast. Down at the other end, Bobby and Ray were mockingly declaring their love for each other, while Roberto played the jilted lover and the girls pretended to be scandalized as Sam looked around confused, his cheeks flushed at the implications. Alex and Evan just laughed.

Being as she was already late, Rogue neglected to straighten her red auburn and white hair, so it fell it loose delicate waves down past her shoulders. It looked stunning that way and Remy felt sad she didn't leave it natural more often. She wore a black T-shirt with one of her favorite bands emblazoned on the front with a sheer long sleeved shirt underneath. Her favorite worn, stonewashed, black bellbottomed jeans and strappy and buckled boots with thick soles were also on. Her belt was white and studded with a silver Gothic belt buckle. On her hands were short black leather gloves and on her wrists were white wrist cuffs. Her neck was wrapped with several short silver necklaces. Her ears sported many earrings, studs, hoops and dangly ones. Her eyes were quickly lined with black eyeliner, thicker in some spots to look like cat's eyes, with black mascara and smoky neutral colored eye shadow in a burnt sienna, making her green eyes stand out. It went along with plum colored lips. A thick, knit, white, button up sweater with a hood and pockets went overtop.

Remy looked dashing, as always, with his copper auburn hair messed up and running into his red on black eyes. His piercings glinted off the light from his eyebrow and ears. Today, he wore a loose black T-shirt that still managed to show off his great body with a picture of a sketchy angled horse and knight in battle stance, looking angry. However, it was covered due the cold and the need for his deep red, loosely fitting hoodie, with 'New Orleans Saints' on the front. He wore a pair of battered loose fitting blue jeans that clung to his hips by a black studded belt. His jeans were very faded and worn and tucked into a pair of clunky biker boots with straps and buckles, made of leather and making him deserving of the bad boy image. His wrist cuffs were black leather and a chain on his belt led to his wallet in his back pocket, just taunting everyone to rob from the master thief. On his hands were his trademark odd fingerless gloves. As usual, a chain that bore the crest of the New Orleans Thieves Guild hung from his neck on a short ball chain.

"Look what de cat dragged in," commented Remy, with a teasing glint in his eye.

Rogue scooped some food onto her plate, containing some scrambled eggs, bacon and French toast, pouring herself some milk as well.

"A Swamp Rat?" asked Rogue in mock excitement, before giving him a deadpan look.

Emil touched Remy's shoulder as he was waling by to get some pancakes from the other side of the table. He pulled back immediately upon contact as if Remy were on fire, "Oooh…dat burns." He then went along his business again.

"Intaresting," commented Rogue.

"Wait 'til ya see him dress in drag an do de Macarena," said Remy.

Rogue shuddered, and said dramatically, "The mental images, they kill…"

"Don't worry, chere," said Remy, patting her shoulder, "I'll save you."

Rogue looked at him like he was a dirty bug for touching her and jerked away as if stung, and said dramatically, "Ohmigod, I've been touched by Swamp Trash!"

"Y' wound m', chere. Most women want t' be touched by me," said the Cajun, giving her his best pout.

"Most women are short of a few brain cells. Ya kill them all with ya horrible pick up lines," rebutted Rogue.

"You take de lives of children everywhere with your glare of death. Y' a regular Medusa, chere," said Remy calmly as Rogue took a few bites of her food.

"Eww…" started Rogue, giving Remy a disgusted look, shuddering, "How d'ya eat that?" she asked referring to some offending sausages on Remy's plate, "They're dipped in grease and fat, making it bulbous and orangey in places, blacked and burned with cancer, made of God knows what from pigs, smells like a sewer and tastes way too disgustingly salty and nasty. It's lahke ya compensating for something."

"What are ya suggesting, chere?" asked Remy raising an eyebrow, "Because I'd be more than happy to show you just how…adept…I am…"

"Aw, sick! No thank you!" screamed Rogue making retching noises, while their family and friends watched on amusedly to their interactions.

"I think y' need t' try a sausage t' get over your clearly displaced mind as sausages are perfectly fine," said Remy, forking one of the offending food items and attempting to force feed it to Rogue.

Rogue maneuvered away from the repulsive piece of processed pork zooming across her face with Remy's fast hands. (I would like to thank Ashten and Chris for this scene, two people from camp. I was usually caught in the crossfire of the nasty offending food as it ricocheted off…)

"C'mon, chere, open up," called Remy, playfully.

"No way in hell, shugah," shouted Rogue defiantly.

After a while of zooming food that involved insults, shouts of 'Get away,' swatting of hands and avoidance on both parts, one of food, the other of swatting, Remy came up with a plan. Rogue was practically falling off her seat from leaning so far back, trying to avoid the sausage.

"Oh, c'mon, Rogue, open up, take a chance. Eat it!" said Remy with a charming smile.

"HELL NO, REMY!" cried Rogue as her head swished this way and that.

All of a sudden, Remy put his plan into action, he grabbed Rogue's head before she could blink and pulled her into a headlock, using his gloved fingertips to work her lips open and shove the sausage into her mouth before clamping it shut, by applying pressure to the top of her head and chin. He squeezed her cheeks to work the sausage onto her tongue to make her chew, to get rid of the taste. Rogue's eyes were squeezed shut, the entire time, disliking the whole thing immediately. She was so tense that she looked like a baby trying to rid their feces.

"You look like a bebe tryin' t' poo, chere," laughed the Cajun hysterically. Rogue opened her vibrant verdant eyes and gave him a menacing glare. Suddenly, her mouth stopped moving, indicating she was done chewing.

"See, chere, dat's not so bad…" started Remy.

She then suddenly relaxed and before you could say, 'poo,' Rogue spat that chewed up sausage out at a rapid speed, hurtling in the direction of Remy. Luckily, he knew how to duck, or else there would've been regurgitated sausage on his face. Instead it landed smack on the face of Lucas.

He wiped it out of his eyes with a deadpan expression crossing his face, "Thank you, LeBeau." That only caused Remy and everyone else at the table to burst out laughing who had been watching Remy and Rogue's antics.

"It looks lahke he's got a turd on his face," laughed Rogue, hysterically.

"Mon Dieu, it does," laughed along Remy.

Those surrounding the two Southerners in their moment of laughter and utter happiness where nothing else mattered, could only look at each other and share a knowing look, 'Oh yeah, there's something going on between them.'

Later on, when the mass meal was finished and the chaos ended, all the students in the Institute rushed off to grab their books to go to school. Remy, John and Piotr were carpooling to the train station then taking the bullet train to New York's Columbia University, while the others were all going to Bayville High. Remy and Rogue ran into each other, literally, before leaving the house, preparing to leave from the front doors as a few got the cars out to the front.

Remy was talking to his cousins over his shoulder, loudly yelling insults back and forth from their past in New Orleans growing up. Lapin and Emil were purposely not telling Remy that Rogue was on a straight path to run into him, because the complications would be interesting after the collision. Rogue was walking backwards, talking to Jamie, giving him some homework advice and because he too wanted to see the resulting impact, he said nothing as well of Remy's crash course towards her.

In a sudden smack of impact, books flew and crashed to the ground, any balance was lost completely as Rogue and Remy went airborne, legs lifted off the dark wooden floor. Arms flew to all directions. Eyes widened in shock. Seeing that he would fall on top of Rogue, Remy caught Rogue's head, cradling it in his heads to cushion the blow. They hit the floor as one in a thuck. Both moaned. Rogue's butt and back hurt, taking the brunt of the fall as Remy's knees and arms felt it too. Their heads were mere inches away. Remy was on top in their awkward compromising position. Their bodies were pressed firmly together, letting them feel some…interesting…things through their clothes, like the hardness of Remy's chest muscles against her soft breasts. Both seemed flushed and breathless. Their eyes searched each others, emotions running rampant.

"Dis position is gettin' nicely familiar. I always liked bein' on top," said Remy looking into Rogue's bright green eyes with a smirk, his red on black eyes locked on hers.

"That's nahce, but Ah cahn't breathe, Cajun, yah're a bit heavy," said Rogue breathlessly.

Immediately, Remy lifted his body off the suffocating girl and helped her off the floor.

"Y' okay, chere?" asked Remy, concerned.

"Peachy," said Rogue as she gathered her books, Remy helped her too as he grabbed his. When this task was completed, they began pulling on their jackets and other clothes to brave the cold weather. Soon a heavy silence filled the air where neither knew what to say.

A long second passed and Remy finally said, "So…I'll see y' later den, chere."

"Yeah, latah," repeated Rogue. Funny thing was, they were still trapped in each other's eyes. A pull from Kitty's arm bought Rogue away from Remy's gaze.

"C'mon, Rogue, we're gonna be late, and so will they," she said as she dragged her friend to the car that her brother was currently driving. Remy stared after her as she entered the car and watched as the car faded into the distance.

A fire orange glove was waved into his line of vision.

"C'mon, Rems, Piotr's waitin'," said John as he too pulled his friend to the car that Piotr was waiting in to take them to the train station.

They were going to two different locations, about to be apart, and yet, their hearts, their minds were still together, somehow, inexplicably. It was as if the other was still there.

* * *

It was only the second period of an incredibly terrible day. Okay, sure at one point it had been alright, but that had been at breakfast….with Remy. She was in Social Studies, normally a perfectly good class. However, today, they had a sub. He was old as the hills with his hair thinning and bright white, a turkey neck, huge glasses and gaunt form. Yet, that was not the worst thing about him. The worst thing was that his voice had the ability to put anyone and anything in his path to sleep. It was monotonous, it was slow and it was droning. Besides, he was telling them useless information on Communist fashion trends. No wonder so many people thought school the metaphorical prison. Their regular teacher was SO much better. She actually involved the class, made great debates and actually didn't mind mutants, so you could see why Rogue actually like this class. Unfortunately, she was snowed in due to heavy snowfall the night before. Right now, she wanted to kill herself. She kept nodding off and had now given up on class, fifteen minutes in and was feverishly drawing in her book of inspiration. (This is an actual teacher I have experienced…)

Her previous class, math, had been absolutely dreadful, between her overbearing, anti mutant teacher and the obnoxious anti mutant students, it had been grand. As usual, he was strict, condescending and malicious. It could be assumed that he abhorred the world and everything in it. Due to all his rather repellent qualities, he was a terrible teacher. The only thing you learned was to sit down and shut up, or else. He was most definitely a petty individual and unfortunately, Rogue was stuck with him for math. As usual, her mouth had landed her in the office with an incident report. Yet the only reason she was passing was because silent fuming Amanda, her brother's girlfriend, who also hated their teacher, bought her homework. The two of them did their homework with such excellence as a way to spite their teacher and it worked, the dirty looks were alone worth it, when he realized that no matter how hard he tried to fail them all, he couldn't do it. Of course, it did help that they had math wiz, Kitty to help them. She was currently doing a university level course offered at Bayville High.

Next to her, on the large tables, Kurt was pinching himself to stay awake, but alas, he gave up and was now snoozing on his desk, like the rest of the class and the teacher didn't even notice, he was too far gone. Finishing some doodles and sketches, she started to flip back in her book, seeing the older sketches there. Some were achingly sad and depressive and even though there were some lighter ones in there of various people, places and things, it all held a certain melancholy.

She stopped when she reached a rather special page. Remy was eternalized in a sketch showing all his dark, mysterious and brooding nature. He was in his former Acolyte uniform, stalking out from the darkness of an alley, Bo staff in hand, like he had done in the streets of New Orleans and when he abducted her. He had that insufferable smirk, but there was something haunting in his eyes that seemed to make the darkness surround him so that he didn't mar the goodness of the light. Yet, he was offering her his hand, a trip into his world, and she was taking it to get away from hers. She appeared to be so lost on the page, confused and uncertain. Still, she eyed him with suspicion and distrust, but somehow, the darkness seemed to fade because they were bonded by hands. They were taking a risk at something. It was here that she had pasted the Queen of Hearts after her trip to the Bayou.

He brought a smile to her face.

The queen on the card was hauntingly beautiful. It wasn't a typical queen from a typical deck. It was much more beautiful and ornate that a regular playing card, even though it was colored in the regular blue, black and red with a hint of yellow. Her hair was deep red in an elaborate up do, her face pale white and her lips blood red. The dress she wore was pitch black with thin deep blue accents and was of medieval fashion. Her eyes were chilling and blue standing out in the darkened hall where she stood. A sword glinted of moonlight was held at ready in her skilled hand as if in warning to all heartbreakers. Rogue couldn't help but think she looked to be guarding her heart from something, someone. Rogue thought it matched the king of hearts perfectly, the one she kept from when Remy tried to blow her hand off. There was a nice tribute to the moment before the explosion in the book as well. The king too was haunting, but wore a strange smile that hid something. The king held darkness and mystery. He held his sword above his head and wore a black outfit very similar to the queen in a darkened hall as well. His eyes were a penetrating blue, staring out from the darkened hall and he was about to attack something unknown, a jilted lover, perhaps…

She traced her hand over the queen, thinking of Remy and pondering, not for the first time why he gave it to her, what it meant or symbolized. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her head with a deafening wailing from the psyches dominating her head, intensifying her headache tenfold. She was lost for a moment. Memories washed over her and she couldn't distinguish her own. She was terrified, her heart quickened and she broke out in cold sweat, the classroom was suffocating to her now. Classroom? What was she doing in a classroom? Who were these people? Why did she think that boy should be blue?

'_I am Rogue. I am Rogue. I am Rogue.' _She chanted that over and over in her head, trying to gain some semblance of control, before the psyches attacked her fully. On the inside, she was tying to stave off a hurricane, on the outside, she was clutching her head in one hand that was rested on her desk, a look of chilling vacancy on her face. They thunderously yelled and shrieked at her. _'Murderer, murderer, let us OUT!'_ It was overwhelming. How did she break free from all this? Using all her will, she slammed a steel wall on the apparitions in her head. The silence was blissful but the headache throbbed at her mind.

"Rogue, Rogue, are you alright?" whispered Kurt, watching his sister concerned.

"Ah'm fine," said Rogue resolutely, Kurt didn't look convinced, but the bell rang before he could say anything more and Rogue fled from the room, grabbing her things, leaving behind one confused brother.

Using the locker break to gather herself, she stormed into the girl's bathroom and locked the entrance, before sliding to the floor, lost and confused, clutching her throbbing head. Why did she have to lie to those that cared about her? She hated that. She hated telling them that everything was okay, when it wasn't. She was dying inside, drowning, she wanted to scream out loud all the pain, anger, frustration and sorrow she felt, but knew it would make people concerned and she didn't want their help or their pity. Why did she have to be this way?

Despair washed over her like an ocean engulfs sinking ships. It was her everyday normalcy, yet it hurt so much each time, still. She knew she would probably never touch, that holding onto hope that she would was doomed to failure. She tried though, trained with the professor and every failed attempt only diminished her hope even more. Rogue was doomed to forever be alone; she knew that, held onto it like salvation, because it was the only way she could make sure nobody was harmed on account of her. Human relationships would only hurt her as time had proven so adamantly to her. She couldn't touch and she couldn't be normal and that was that.

For all the times she wished she could touch someone, there were a hundred reasons why she couldn't. Her heart was longing for the touch of one, but he was the one she could never do so because she could never bear to hurt him. She couldn't lie to herself and say that she never wanted to know just once, what it was like to really kiss Remy LeBeau, not just some half assed attempt made by Mastermind while she was under control. Just one kiss, it was all she wanted. In her heart, more than anything, she wanted something between them, but her reality was cruel and impossible. The distance that they made between each other took its toll and ate at her. It was self-imposed on both sides, but she knew that if things were different, something real would form between them, tangible and beautiful and more than anything, it hurt, took away her air and suffocated her.

Friendship, it was such a farce. She knew that they were pulled to be more than just friends, but it was the only way they could possibly have a relationship, no matter how horribly unrewarding it was. The worst part was it was Valentines Day and she got to watch seemingly everyone at school pair off and spew off their love for each other, when she saw it as being shallow and petty. They didn't deserve love or knew it. It was a game to them. That jock was cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend. That sweetheart nice girl was figuring out a way to break up with her boyfriend while he gave her a necklace to symbolize their love for each other on their one year anniversary. Why was it that people, so undeserving of love got that when she valued it with her entire being and was forced to run away from it? It was so unfair. But it was her reality.

Her headache throbbed, and she was emotional mess with a terrible life. So why did she even bother to live? Maybe because her best friend would never forgive her and despite it all, she liked the girl. Maybe because her brother would miss her terribly and always wonder why if she left. Maybe because her dad would become a hopeless wreck. Maybe because she had an ounce of hope somewhere that her life could change. And maybe because there was that one guy who could make her smile and be happy for a second and forget about everything.

She took a few deep breaths and stabilized her psyches, gathering her thoughts and pushing back her misery, suppressing it. Getting a hold of herself and picking herself up from the dangerously disgusting floor of the bathroom, she unlocked the door and headed out the bathroom, walking out, ready to face another disaster with her head held high.

Taking a few steps out in the direction of her next class, Chemistry, she saw that maybe there was hope for love yet. In the hall, quickly before the bell rang, Kurt sweetly handed Amanda a rose, causing her to blush and smile, softly saying thank you before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips and heading to her next class, smile on her face. It hurt to see others get a chance at love when she was so fiercely denied it, but she was happy for them, and they deserved it. She swallowed her resolve and put on her unbreakable mask.

* * *

Remy thanked whatever God from above for the cancellation of his last class after lunch due to the fact of a snow storm lessening many members of staff due to being snowed in. The day had been fairly terrible. God, why was it that the girls still crowded him when he was most definitely giving off the aura that made people stay away? He was totally not in the mood to listen to random girls from this class chat on meaningless things, trying to engage him in the conversation, imploring him to ask them out. His attitude should be enough. Stay away! John found this all hilariously amusing. He didn't.

The entire day he had felt bogged down with work and enclosed and trapped in the spacious university campus. The atmosphere was suffocating. Maybe it had something to do with the heat that was blasting inside to warm the place. The teachers all had insisted on giving them enough work to last a century on the same day on nefariously boring subject matter. Not to mention, it was completely useless, he swore it. Maybe the horribleness of his day had something to do with…her…

His English Literature class with Piotr and John had been an epic trial to say in the least. Throughout the day he had felt her somersaulting emotions, but it was worst in his English lit class. Her emotions had been so focused on sorrowful misery, utter hopelessness and empty loneliness. He had felt her all day, felt her increased despair seeming to come from a holiday that mocked her so. It made a parade of everything she would never have from people holding hands to kissing. He felt the troubling emotions sinking her ship intensify throughout the day to one breaking point in his English Literature class. It simply broke his heart.

She was so undeserving of all her torment and suffering. She deserved happiness more than anything and yet it was the one thing that was so rare in her disjointed life. Usually, he was good with controlling his empathy and not letting it control him, but today, he just couldn't do it, because it was Rogue and it hurt him to know she was so sad. He felt it practically constantly, and yet, he couldn't get used to it. It most definitely affected his mood and John and Piotr took notice too. His temper was short and his fuse shorter. He was the gloomy rain cloud of doom. (For some reason I just had to put that in…it's so cute and just so unRemy it works…)

For some reason, he just wanted to save her from it all, he wanted to make her happy more than anything because she needed it more than anything. And maybe in her gratitude she'd…_'Get a hold of yourself, LeBeau. She doesn't need that from you. You'll only hurt her if you get involved.' _(Sarcastic remark! He's SO involved. Just in case you guys don't read in between the lines of denial.)

He couldn't sit still, he was constantly fidgeting and class couldn't end quickly enough for him, which leads us to thanking the Gods. He, John and Piotr decided to leave campus immediately; it'd been a stressful day. Stressful, because Remy had to feel every negative emotion pouring from Rogue and because John and Piotr had to restrain him from doing anything stupid because of it. He was snappy at the tiniest things, he snapped at a poor custodian for not getting his mop out of the way fast enough so that he could walk past. Frankly, it was scary, not to mention very Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde.

John and Piotr could only guess at what was making the Cajun so angry and pissed off to the degree where he'd act so out of character. However, they had a guess…because when he wasn't yelling at random people, he was brooding, with that far off look in his eyes that just screamed love sick puppy and putting two and two together…Rogue. It was the only reason why he was acting so strangely, that and they had noticed that Remy seemed strangely in tuned with Rogue's emotions. It was just some of those strange coincidences that they had noticed when Rogue and Remy became close. Given his empathy, it was no surprise, however, it was very strange why he could feel Rogue and only Rogue on a regular basis, without even trying and at great distances. John and Piotr both had suspicions on this, but of course didn't share it with their Cajun comrade because that would end in disaster.

Currently, the boys were on the train heading to Bayville at rapid, bullet like speeds. Remy was seated in front of John and Piotr in seats that faced each other. He was listening to his tunes, blasting them loudly enough for half the train to hear the lyrics of Axel Rose shrieking out 'Welcome to the Jungle'. Remy was most definitely brooding; it was definitely in the semi-scowl that crossed his face. John and Piotr were trying to confront him, but given that the loud music was used as a classic excuse to avoid conversation…they were getting no where. Yup, Remy was ignoring them, to the irk of both his friends. They knew that if Remy didn't want to deal with something, he avoided it like the plague and being a thief helped in that respect, so it was time to stick to the man like a burr. They would confront him eventually.

* * *

In the car, parked at the station, Remy sat in the back, luckily, while he was preoccupied with yelling at a teenage girl for stepping on his jacket, Piotr put on the child safety lock and window locks, including the sun roof, there was no way that the Cajun was getting out before they were and in his mood, didn't notice it. (I hated child safety locks…) Sure, it wouldn't sway the Cajun one bit if he really tried…but hey, anything is better than nothing.

After a short ride they reached the Institute, Remy tried to open the door, but was met with a surprise, he was more annoyed than anything, "Y' child safety locked, m'? M' de Prince o' Thieves? D'y' realize how pointless dat is?"

"Ve're concerned," said Piotr with a sigh, "You're behavior is…vell…scary…" Let it be told that Piotr Rasputin was not a man above saying scary…(Okay, for a stoic guy like Piotr, it's just really out of place for him to say 'scary' in my opinion…as in sort of funny situation scary…I had to make the situation mildly funny…)

"Mate, ya said scary…See wotcha made him do! Petey never says scary," ranted John. Remy gave him the okaaay look. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door, even with the child safety lock, and stepped out of the car, in the underground garage, Piotr and John did the same, hurrying out of the car almost comically to make sure Remy didn't give them the slip, quickly moving to block the exits, as if that would stop Remy if he really wanted to escape. John blocked the doors leading inside the Institute, and Piotr blocked the garage door. Sure there were little windows and vehicles he could apprehend to speed out of the garage even with John and Piotr blocking the exits, but he decided to entertain them…

"Oy have a loyghter, Oy'm noyt afraid ta use oyt," said John menacingly, letting the tiny miniscule flame erupt from his lighter by flicking it on. Too bad appearances could be deceiving.

"Remy, you're acting strangely and ve all know vhy," opened Piotr, "It's not heathy."

Remy made to protest.

"Ya yelled at tha janitor for noyt moving his mop fast enough so you could walk past," said John in a dead pan voice.

"Ve know you're acting upset because oaf somzhing to do vith Rogue, comrade," said Piotr. Remy just raised an eyebrow, not giving away anything, the utter pinnacle of calm, but inside, he was confused. Self preservation ruled for her was being backed into a corner. How the hell did they know?

"C'mon mate, iyt's SO obvious. Every time, Rogue gets even tha slightest doom and gloom, yah're all ovah her, makin' her happy. Even at times when she doesn't seem all doom and gloom, yah're ovah making her laugh, almost lahke ya know she's unhappy," accused John.

"And don't even deny it! We researched it! EAT THAT!" shouted the Aussie passionately, pointing a 'So HA' finger at him. He was getting a tad over excited.

Both boys gave him a strange look, John smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Da, John, Katya, Kurt and I haff all noticed zhis," said the Russian with a curt nod.

"Yeah," said John, giving Remy a 'try to walk out of this one' look, completely smug, "We called Kitty and tha Sheila said that Rogue was anythang but perky today." (I hope I'm doing Piotr and John's personalities right.)

Piotr gave him a kind look, "Comrade, it's SO painfully obvious zhat zhere's zomthing going on between you two. You haff somzhing between you two. You really like her, maybe more zhen like even."

"Fine, I do like her, I'm attracted to her, happy?" said Remy. He didn't know why he was giving this away so easy, but then this was Rogue, and try as he might, he just couldn't be normal around her.

"And you are noyt asking her out, because…" pressing John, making hand gestures for elaboration.

"Not'ing could ever come out from it," said Remy, a little sadness in his voice that he couldn't mask. (Ironic much that Remy is questioned for his game? Hell yeah!)

"When haff youss been one to give up, comrade? Zhat's not like youss," confronted Piotr.

"Yeah, you're one creative loyttle shit, when it comes ta gettin' tha Sheilas," elaborated John.

"She's different…" trailed Remy. There was just something about Rogue that made it so that he couldn't be normal around her.

"Yah're attracted ta her, though, more than any other girl in some while."

"Yeah, I am," sighed Remy, admitting it. For once, he couldn't hide it. He had to come clean, because John and Piotr knew him too well.

"Even if t'ings were different, it still wouldn't float. She deserves someone better. Some one that's not m'," said Remy with sorrow and conviction.

"Since vhen has zhat stopped you? Since vhen have you thought yourself inadequate?" questioned Piotr, in utter disbelief.

"Since Rogue, apparently," said Remy with a humorless laugh.

"She's reallah done a numah on ya," commented John with an unreadable expression.

"Vell, what if you just vent for it?" asked Piotr.

"We're not like dat, we're friends, dat's all. We work better that way," referring to so much more than Rogue's powers and his friends knew that, "It's like she's just so perfect and I just can't mar that perfection with filth like me," said Remy, slowly.

"OHMIGOD!" squealed John, "Yah're SO in like with her."

"What de hell is in like?" questioned the Cajun.

"Past tha friendship stage, but not in love," said John sagely.

"Da, comrade," agreed Piotr, upon hearing the explanation.

"WHAT? Dat's ludicrous, I like her, sure, I'm attracted to her, sure, but I am NOT in like with her. She's my friend and I respect dat and her," argued Remy raising his voice. (Oh yeah, he's back tracking and rationalizing things…it's one of those being in a corner things…)

Piotr and John shared a look.

"Royt, mate, just keep telling yourself that," commented John dryly.

Remy let out a frustrated groan, throwing his arms in the air, having enough of this, "I'm going for a ride, when I get back, I expect all of you to go back to normal levels of insanity and cut the absurdity of dis."

With that, he stormed to the shelf, grabbed his helmet off it and shoving it on, went to his black, accented red, Harley and turned it on, upon opening the garage door, he revved the engine and rode off into the cold afternoon.

John let out an excited gasp and immediately took out a note book saying out loud as he wrote furiously, "Raoul leaves the room, in a hurried rush, angry and frustrated after being confronted by Johann and Pierre on his relationship with Solitaire. Perfect."

"I'm not even going to ask," said Piotr, shaking his head.

Both boys ascertained at that moment, that Remy was one confused Cajun on his feelings for Rogue and what he should do about it.

(Solitaire, the name of Rogue in a fan fiction by Faith Barnett called 'Growing Up' found on a website of Rogue fanfics called Down Home Charm. It's one of my favorite fanfictions and is chalk full of Romyness. Pierre is the French version of Peter and well, for all who didn't pick up on that, Piotr is Russian for Peter…Oh yeah, and Remy is totally confused. He's really, well, acting non Remy.)

* * *

The rest of her day went on with that throbbing headache and the constant reminders of the sorrow known as her life. Lunch was loud and noisy in the cafeteria where the entire school population insisted on making as much noise as possible, making her headache pound in her skull. Her looks of pain and annoyance did little to sway concern from her as Kitty and Kurt where on her in an instant, worry in their eyes. Foods class wasn't so bad, if the savory smell of food didn't agitate her headache further and Kitty didn't spend every five seconds with an 'Are you okay?' on the tip of her tongue. Plus, school was over and she could delight herself in the quiet of the empty school as she finished a project for her last class of the day, Art. Art, it was like her salvation.

Today, they were in their last stages of finishing off their self portraits in pencil with minimal amounts of color to accentuate or stress important areas, designed to show your very essence. In the portrait, it was a back shot, turned at a slight angle, and you could see to a little ways past her shoulders. She was wearing a halter top that exposed her back and shoulders. Her head was turned to the right, so you saw her face. On her left arm which clasped her right shoulder were an abundance of bracelets and wrist cuffs of silver and black with her fingernails black and many intricate rings. Her neck had a leather and studded choker and the chains of pendants. Rogue's skin was pale and almost seemed to glow ethereally. Her face spoke of all the sadness that was her life, from the haunting green eyes to the sorrowful expression on her face with tears shimmering down. It was something no one ever saw of her, really, in open, the pain, the suffering. Yet strangely, in the dark of the rest of the picture were a pair of glowing red orbs that brought attention to her face and outstretched right hand, naked, except for a thin silver bracelet. What was that light? For some reason, it seemed to hold the truth to who she was. It got to see that weakness in her, when no one really did. It was chillingly beautiful, a look into her soul.

She was just putting the finishing touches on the drawing with the time reaching nearly four pm. luckily, she just had to make it home by about 5:15 for a Danger Room session scheduled fifteen minutes after. School had ended at 3:30, in her Art class, but she had stayed behind to finish her work, not wanting to spend another day on it. Besides, her teacher let his students stay behind, so it was no problem. Finally finishing it, she signed her name on the bottom right hand corner in white sharpie and handed in the work to Mr. Kinsella, who immediately smiled and enthusiastically praised the work, the way only he could. The man had an innate ability to get you enthused about your work. (My actual Art teacher, he's totally awesome.) Smiling and saying a few goodbyes in the empty room, Rogue left and grabbing her back pack, headed down to her locker to retrieve her coat and load up on the homework she had to do that night.

The halls were quiet, no one was around. It was tranquil, peaceful even. She loved staying after school just for that feeling. Luckily, during Art, her headache had reduced to a dull ache. It was something about Art that made the stress of the rest of the day worth it. To just be in a room and let your creative energy flow is the most rewarding feeling in the world. The freedom to just create something you visualize and just see it from beginning to the final product, in all its mastery is the most rewarding feeling in the world. Knowing you made something one of a kind and beautiful is something no one could ever take away from you and the psychological benefits are totally worth the taxing hours it takes to completion. For a person like Rogue, it was only then she could feel at peace. Art was something coming from her, no one else. Those psyches in her mind couldn't influence it, it was from her soul…it was her; completely totally her and she relished that. (Yeah, I'm an Art Geek…Can ya tell?) It was one of the few things left that was totally and completely her in her mind.

Taking a few turns and going up to the second floor, Rogue reached her blue painted locker that was slightly battered from previous years' use. Luckily, it was a larger locker and she only had to share it with Kitty. Grabbing a few books and binders, she hastily shoved them into her back pack, not wanting to idle in the halls and zipped up the bag. Rogue then wrapped an emerald green, long and thick scarf around her neck before slipping on her black woolen mittens and putting on her long olive green down jacket with a brown fur trimmed hood. After zipping up, she pulled on her hood and slung on her bag, heading to exit the school.

Her footsteps clapped against the stairs and hallways as she exited the school at a brisk jog. Making it out of Bayville High, she was just about to walk over to the bus stop to get to Westchester and then transfer to the Institute from there, when she heard the roaring engine of that particular Harley thundering down the road.

* * *

Remy didn't know how long he'd been on his Harley, just letting the road take him wherever they went. He just knew that when he was on that bike, he felt in control and he felt free. It was his baby and he really did cherish it as such. It was probably one of the only things that didn't fail him in life, that one constant, really. He loved that bike and he loved riding it like nothing could catch him. The speed, thrill and danger made him lose himself in it. It made him forget for awhile. It let him feel energized and at peace, invincible even. It was in these moments that nothing else mattered, it was just him and his bike and no matter how crazy, hectic or out of hand his life got, there was that motorcycle that took him to tranquility. He never let anyone near it; it was revered and sacred to him. He had never let anyone on it. It was his alone.

He had been confused, angry and a little resentful at the things that his friends had said, but was it true? Did he have feelings for Rogue deeper than attraction? He was after all Remy LeBeau, ladies' man, there were few women who he wasn't attracted to, but Rogue was just, well…Rogue, a category all her own. Still, he didn't question it. Questions only led to unwanted self evaluations, so he just let the road take him. Go by the flow. It was easier; you didn't stress over it and become more confused. He had enough chaos and confusion in his life already, and Rogue was one of those things that he hoped would never be chaos and confusion.

Suddenly, between the winding roads and city streets, he realized he had reached Bayville, more particularly, Bayville High. Once again, he was amazed at how much Rogue seemed to dominate his mind, even subconsciously. He was drawn to her; he really was, lured and captivated even. There was that sadness in her that he just wanted to alleviate, because when he saw her smile, such joy spread across her face, he knew for just that one moment she was happy and that was worth it. She needed more of that in her life. It was like he had a homing beacon in his mind to her. Somehow, his empathy had managed to track her, he didn't know why, but somehow, he could feel her always and that overbearing sadness broke his heart, he truly wanted for her to not feel like that all the time. He wanted to give her more in life and he didn't know why, so he just did.

He felt her, her melancholy and he wanted to be the one to help her out from the pits of sorrow, so he went to her, to assist her, yet again.

Turning his bike into the school parking lot, his trench coat billowing out behind him, to where Rogue was, he stopped, taking off his helmet.

Rogue eyed him, something unreadable in her expression filled eyes. Maybe it was a flicker of hope. She couldn't help but notice that he was the dark night on that black Harley. (My salute and reminder to Shira's Song and 'A Comedy of Letters'. Please update 'Shall We Dance?' like you promised! The preview is killing me.)

Stopping a few inches from her position on the steps of the school, he lifted the helmet off his head, strands of his hair blowing into his gorgeous flickering eyes.

"Hey, chere, y' need a ride?" asked Remy with that insufferable smirk of his that melted the ice of her cold broken heart, offering her his gloved hand. He looked right into her verdant gaze, penetrating her with his crimson ones, her pure white bangs fluttering in the wind. And like her special, most treasured sketch depicting the two of them, she found herself taking his hand, accepting his aid, allowing him to bring her out of darkness to see their faint spark of glowing light, their hope. She found her self accepting his ride.

Wordlessly, she nodded and took his hand in her, letting him guide her to the seat behind him. Once she was seated, Remy offered her the extra helmet attached to the back of the bike. Pulling it over her head, she then wrapped her arms against his toned torso, pulling herself close, as close as she could ever get and snuggled into him, resting her head against his back, because it was comforting, because he was warm and because it felt right in that moment.

She smiled when she felt him squeeze her hand on his stomach in understanding just before he pulled on his helmet and put his hands back onto the handlebars, steering the motorcycle out of the school, speeding down the roads who only knew themselves where they led.

And then he was sharing everything about his Harley with her, with the wind rushing past, trying to keep up, but even he couldn't catch them.

* * *

You like? It's a whole chapter filled with Romy. I hope you enjoyed.

Guess what? This chapter is now going to be split into two, chapter eight and nine…but I'm working on nine right away…it's even more angst and more Romynes…I have three chapters of straight Romyness and throwing actual plot to the winds…oh well, it's good character development…cough, cough. I'll give you a hint…think 'Pieces' by Sum41 and try not to kill me. Oh yeah, but it's still Valentines Day and anything can happen…evil laugh…strangely, I've been listening to a lot of old Backstreet Boys stuff and thought I should tell you of a wonderful mental image I got while listening to 'I'll Never Break Your Heart'. You know: "From the first day, that I saw your smiling face, honey, I knew that we would be together forever. When I asked you out, you said, 'No,' but I found out, darling, that you'd been hurt, felt that you'd never love again…." I could go on and on, just from memory on that song…I was and still am a huge BSB fan…strangely, hard as that is to admit sometimes…Can't you just see Remy serenading Rogue with that….it's so perfect…it totally fits…just like 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Oh, and do not worry, they will EVENTUALLY work it all out…wait til Emil and Lapin come in for some fun at the expense of Remy and Rogue…in the next few chapters…

On a side note, I've realized exactly how much Rogan now disgusts me…eww…

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER NINE: SHATTERING**

****

**_PLEASE REVIEW TO FURTHER MY ADDICTION TO REVIEWS!_**

simba317


	9. Shattering

**Disclaimer:** Let's see…I'm still a high school student and I still don't own a multimillion dollar company called Marvel…

**Author's Notes:** Wow, it seems so long ago, but I started this fic in March. When I first started, it really had absolutely NO plot. The only reason why it is the way it is today, are those first lines in italic showing some of Rogue and Remy's impressions of their first meeting. My entire idea was the relationship of Romy and how it progressed over time, the ups and downs, starting from beginning and leaving off at the end of the X-Men Evolution series. I gave my own spin on things and wrote the first meeting of Remy and Rogue. It was here that I gained my plot. I had known that I wanted to write a continuation of the Evolution series, really, focusing on Romy. Yet, I wanted a viable, yet flashy and Remyfied, way for Remy to join up and I didn't want all the negativity on the Guild and his father. So that is why Candra was made into the big bad of New Orleans. Yet, why would he work for Magento? In thinking of these things, I came up with the whole secret agent twist, because as it's been said, Remy is probably the best X-Man who can play both sides and be an effective 'bad guy.' Besides, it's just too cool that one of your best enemies is really on your side. And this is how 'A Mutated Existence' has come to reality from the tinkering of my mind.

Okay, well, after that little walk down memory lane…Well this chapter will bring to you some more Romy interaction…Romy goodness yes…will you like it by the ending…we'll see…Like I said as a clue, last chapter…think 'Pieces' by Sum41 and one particular lyric…and try not to kill me, please. They have come to a realization about each other…sorta…and well, they're either gonna build a bridge or build a wall, to put it in layman's terms. Again, I wrote WAY too much stuff, so before we go for intense depression, I'll give you some Romy happiness…I once again broke up the chapter…but I wanna give you something to read and hey, it's shorter, since I broke up the chapter and it'll give me more room to really pour on the angst, next chapter...evil laugh...I already wrote the last bit of the next chapter…so it should come out faster.

**Shout Outs:**

**Serenity01:** I'm glad you like the descriptions; I always strive to create vivid mental pictures. The Romy was a long time coming. I hope you keep reviewing and enjoy this next chapter. Thanks for the review.

**The One Special Cat:** I hope you know it's you, CF. Once again; your review is positively delightful. I made your day? Cool. I so agree on the Romyness…I just had to finally let it out and do something straight Romy. I mean, we've danced around their interactions for so long. I think we need something concrete. It gets even more concrete now…muawahahahaha…but you get to see whether the fact that they're concrete is good on it's own…And I was dying to get that out…I've planned a LOT of this for awhile…a LOT of this chapter was in my initial planning of the fic after I came up with a real actual plot. I'm glad you like the way I'm handling Raven. I really wanted to show her human side and make you guys feel for her and question who she really is. And of course…Rogue is high on the list of Valentines haters…the day represents everything that sucks in her life personified…it really mocks her with everything she feels she'll never have…you're screaming 'Hello, REMY…' at this point, I know…but that's her viewpoint on things.

I suppose Remy will brighten her day…but you'll see how much and what the end result is at the end of this. Yup, I'm pouring on the angst-y drama and Gen is really a hard part of Remy's life that probably more than anything made him give up on love, in this fic anyway…I mean she totally betrayed everything that meant something to him, lied to him, left him to get killed/arrested after stealing what they stole together, played him, made him think that she loved him and shoved his face in it…in this fic. Again…one of the best things about Romy is their time apart doing the dance as much as they are good together. And of course their bantering totally HAS to extend into an actual relationship. The chase is so fun with them. Yeah, Kitty's right and I'm glad you enjoyed her psychoanalysis. It really says a lot about Rogue and you're right about her admitting she likes him too, she can't really say it outright, but that's the next best thing and Kitty knows it too. Yeah, Kurt's down about Raven and confused on what the right thing to do is.

I'm not fully addicted to coffee…I only drink it once in awhile…though I do love Starbucks' Mocha Fraupuccinos. Dressing in drag and doing Macarena is very Lion King? Wow, never thought of that…but now I see it…Luau! He's a big pig…yum, yum, yum, and you can be a big pig too! Ooh! Ahhh! Runs for life. (I'm pretty sure that's the way it goes at the end anyways…I never really catch the words there without subtitles…) And of course I heart The Lion King, so cool. The thieves wouldn't be the Thieves without being wacko. Of course it had to hit Lucas…I unintentionally put him right beside Remy…and then the food part took shape and I HAD to do that. You'd better thank the Lord that it didn't hit Logan…that's a scary thought…And Emil and Lapin ARE the same person, Emil Lapin, but unfortunately, I mixed it up chapter three, so I was like, what the heck, they are now two different people, for the sake of continuity. I had to do the traditional fall and look into each others eyes…that just seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it…it was unplanned too…it just happened.

Too many subs rot. Kitty has to be good in a course; I really don't believe that she's a pure Valley girl. And as for Self-Possessed Romy style, you'll just have to wait and see…evil laugh…Of course they don't need touch to love…it's just they're too set in their ways and too cautious to do anything about it. Oh Lord, I could rant for hours and hours on the shittiness of Marvel. I'm really glad you enjoyed the John parts…they just come to me and then I just have to do it…the Johann and Pierre thing was one of the first things I wrote after the first sections on Rogue and Remy…it came to me and I HAD to do it. Originally, that whole conversation was written for later and in like was in love…but I wanted a confrontation and that was just too good of dialogue to pass up now. I thought it was perfect for that scene. Red orbs…like duh! And here's the semi-soon update. Thanks for the review. They always rock.

**MagCat:** I'm glad you enjoyed the Romy and are starting to see Raven differently. Johnda will start when the Brotherhood get rescued, which is not for awhile yet…but it WILL happen…don't quote me on exactly when though…It's after they get Mystique out and retrieve her information. Thanks again for the review.

**Nettlez:** Wow, well, Rogue Wonderers is certainly growing. I really love seeing that. I'm glad that you loved this SO much. It's awesome to hear, so thankya. Hugs and cuddles? Sweet. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and Pietro's emotions making him kick out Magsy. It was such a great part to write. Yup, everyone, me included, loves Romy fluff. It makes your heart melt and the world shine brightly. Yes, and as for the motorcycle, it's just one of those things that fit. I'm glad you enjoyed the sausage bit. You'll see what they do with Mystique a little later.

I'm glad you like my fic and I am most definitely trying to get it out for a quickie update.

**Bored247:** Whoa, talk about multitasking, although I'm glad you got through my fic. I'm glad that you loved the art she drew. I'm glad you liked this chapter, and here's the next one, as promised. Thanks again, for reviewing.

**Enchantedlight:** Thanks for the review.

**Ish:** You update whenever I have TONS of work to do too…so it's all fair…and of course, I too ignore homework to read…duh…I'm glad you love the thirty odd pages of Romyness. I thank you SO much for thinking I'm doing their relationship fabulously. Coming from you, it means a lot to me. You're probably one of my biggest inspirations to write Romy and I'm just such a HUGE fan of your stuff. I'm glad you aww at my fic…it makes me warm and fuzzy. I'm glad you love how Remy is attuned to Rogue's emotions. I'm glad you like seeing Remy's little mini intervention from Piotr and John…it was one of those things that's just too good to pass up and I really liked how it turned out…it's totally hilarious on the John parts, yet still manages to be totally angst-y. Oh and John just SO seems like the kind of writer to twist things up from real life and real people to make his plot better…I came up with that Johann and Pierre stuff one night and just HAD to do it. The whole thing about Remy and Rogue right now is they are totally grade school, full of the NO WAY responses to liking someone and in like was the next step. Oh, I totally agree with you on 'Down Home Charm'! They should totally update it. It's absolutely wonderful. I totally think it's awesome for them to come to a realization on each other…but whether it ends well or not is still up in the air! Take your pic! Bridge or wall? I think I'm effectively coming back into bunny on crack mode…although I do have three different fics to work on…so that's about two to three updates in my name per month…that I really strive for.

**Hunza:** I always wish to talk to you. Hey, you asked for the preview…and well, I just had to give you the semi-angst-y part. Previews can always be evil…I learned from Agent-G…he teased me with Logan standing over with X23 claws bared about to lay down the final strike for about a day or two before the chapter came out…and even then you don't find out if she lives or not until the next update, from Hellfire and Brimstone. I'm glad that this was worth your wait. I'm glad that you find the dress in drag and do the Macarena part funny because whenever I write humor, I never know if people will laugh or not. It's hard to make people laugh. I'm also glad you enjoyed her spitting on Lucas. I HAD TO DO IT! Here's your pile of more Romyness and ttyl. Thanks for the review. I heart them.

Phew, another long response. It's hard for me to do short ones…oh, but get ready for more Romyness…if you thought last chapter had lots of Romyness…then this will just trump that. Again, it's very roller coaster. So fawn over the happiness while you still can.

I bring to you…

&

**CHAPTER NINE: SHATTERING**

&

_(Note: I'm focusing on Torpid, Callisto and Caliban…which rhymes with Taliban…lol…on the Morlocks…Next chapter will be focusing in on Magneto, when he gets captured.) _

_Callisto arose to the motion of someone shaking her. It was pitch black, not an ounce of light could be seen and yet she knew exactly where everything was in the small, dank room, which she had tried earnestly to rid of the grime, smell and overall dirtiness. It was a sewer. It was where they lived. It was the only place they could. And after years living underground, she had become accustomed to every nook and cranny of the underground, always in darkness. _

_Letting her eyes focus, a young girl came into view. Callisto could see better than most due to her mutant abilities of enhanced senses. The girl's face was twisted with strain and anxiety from fear, shock even. Her hair was long, and shaggy, in need of a haircut and deep brown. Her face was too pale from lack of sunlight. Her body is unproportional and strange. The clothes she wears are slightly small, dirty and ragged. It's one of the very few things she owns. _

"_Torpid, you couldn't sleep?" asked the Morlock leader in a quiet whisper. Torpid nods and makes a hand gesture, a fist with one hand and the other over top with the palm facing up and fingers pointed, like spikes. _

"_Spyke isn't here, remember, but I'll be happy to tuck you in again, Torpid," whispered Callisto with a rare smile. _

_Torpid shook her head, the look of fear and panic, never leaving her face. She makes the gesture again and Callisto tells her that Spyke isn't with them; he's back with the X-Men for a bit. Torpid shakes her head violently, trying to communicate something to Callisto that she doesn't seem to understand. Callisto is confused. _

_Not knowing what else to do, Torpid grabs Callisto's hand and tugs hard. Callisto gets the message and gets out of bed. Holding her hand, Torpid begins to lead Callisto out of her room. Silently, she leads the leader quickly down the dark damp tunnels, never stopping, looking around as if fearing some hidden monster from a closet. Deeper and deeper they go through the burrow, footsteps never heard. At last, they reach a hall leading to a fork in the tunnels. Torpid motions to Callisto to hug the wall. Scurrying, they reach a small outcrop in the tunnel and crouch down for it's protection._

"_They come," came a hiss like whisper to their left. Callisto looks there and finds Caliban. _

"_Who?" questions Callisto, knowing the answer already. _

"_The tops-s-sidersss," whispers Caliban with a lisp, "They are up to s-s-something." _

_Sure enough several men in black army fatigues, night vision goggles and gas masks come into view, their boots clanging loudly against the metal off the tunnels and splashing off the water they hit. They were armed with rifles, guns, grenades and a variety of knives and loaded with ammunition. With them, they carried large barrels of an unknown substance in a nondescript looking barrel from some pharmaceutical company. _

_A beep of a radio rang through the dense air. A man of high rank picked it up from his belt and answered. _

"_Stevens, here," he said._

"_Commence deploying the gas, now," said the voice on the radio._

"_Roger, Stevens out," said the high ranked soldier. He signaled two of his men to bring the barrels closer to a complicated looking mechanism. It was many tubes attached to a strange black box like object. There was one short tube and the other tubes lead down to other tunnels. One tube led to a giant fan looking mechanism. Swiftly, once all the barrels were in place, Stevens unscrewed a cork on the barrel and inserted the short tube into the barrel. He then pressed a button on the black box like machine. Soon a small whine was heard, which intensified, there was a sucking gurgling noise. Then, the fan like mechanism was on and out from it wafted a vile looking greenish gas. _

"_How long will it take to gas the whole place?" asked a subordinate of Stevens. _

"_About an hour or so," he answered, "then we get Beta team out here and extract all of them to the base." _

_The subordinate nodded. _

_It was the last thing Callisto, Caliban and Torpid saw before they felt the onset of extreme exhaustion, causing them to cross to the unconscious world of dream. _

_**&**_

The roads blurred until they were undistinguishable from the ones before it. The trees, buildings and cars streaked by. The snow fell softly in heavy sparkling flakes meeting their fluffy blanket of neighbors to help cover the land in pristine white. The wind blew softly disturbing the fallen snow, but the rapidly speeding motorcycle created a wind of its own. It created a world separate from the blunt hard truth of reality for the two on that sleek swift Harley as it cruised past all traffic at high speeds.

For precious minutes, seconds, they were free, together. For those cherished moments they were close, knowing they were exactly on the same page. For those treasured instant nothing else mattered. It was just the wind whisking past, the bike whizzing past all obstacles and the two of them huddled together. She had not been close to someone like this for so long, where she just willing touched someone, no matter how insignificant. But it wasn't just touch, it was letting someone see the scars of her soul and ease the pain. She knew he saw them. He had not let someone touch his heart for so long and feeling her joy, her liberation and contented emotions just then, he knew that he had allowed what he had sworn he'd never do again, he'd let someone touch his heart. (This has got to be my favorite paragraph thus far. It made me smile and swoon writing it, more so than the Romy fluff parade aka 'The Road to Forever.')

They were untouchable, invincible, just two people caught up in a moment. He took the corners a little too fast, weaved in and out around traffic, revving the engine, going excess speeds, but she didn't care. She was lost in the thrill. He was giving her the ride of her life and he was on his. It was reckless and dangerous that ride, but so were they. Freedom, liberation, it was what they wanted for a moment, to just forget all else and the best way was to flirt with danger. Adrenalin pulses through your veins and you just worry about the task in front of you, nothing else. It was like a drug, everything else faded away and it was just that moment of happiness in their minds. Her mind was clear then. She just hung on and let him take her where the roads told him to. His mind was uncluttered then. He just let her hold on as he accelerated down the road.

Maybe there was something between them, maybe there wasn't, but at that moment, all that mattered was that there was nothing else and they were defying it all, streaking down the lanes of asphalt. It was just them, forgetting all of their troubles, letting the wind beat against their bodies, pressed so close together and letting the bike go as fast as it wanted to.

Power blasted forth from the engine of the bike and they sped up as they cruised along the highway for the short trip to Westchester. The concrete of Bayville became the rustic country scenery of Westchester. The trees were barren, with only the snow to clothe them. The earth was a blanket of white silk, simmering in the pale afternoon light and still they quickened past.

Run. Were they running? Running from it all, it seemed as they flew past an orchard of dead trees, once coated with fruit, leaves and life. They seemed to have no fear, being so wild with their ride, but were they simply riding and what was it that they feared?

It's funny how speed, danger and thrill can be used to make you forget things.

Westchester county began to peak out, a tiny municipality too close to Bayville for true distinction, except that it had always been of rich houses, some small businesses and things of necessity for its people. They approached the small town with swiftness and soon the highway gave way to the small streets with small businesses, shops and restaurants which lined the short main street of Westchester.

Remy didn't know why, but at that moment, something compelled him to slow down, stopping for a red light instead of blowing by like he'd done at the other lights, making Rogue raise her helmeted head in curiosity.

He turned to face her, those stunning ruby eyes smoldering at her with some untold emotion that neither she nor him could discern. He was every sin personified. No man should be able to look that good with his disheveled floppy hair, glimmering garnet eyes, and elfin yet totally chiseled masculine features. Rogue would never admit to how many times she wanted to kiss those lips twisted into a perpetual smirk. It didn't help that the rest of him looked just as good, if not better than his face. It was that tall lean, yet muscular body. And damn, he was a bad boy in every sense of the word, and Lord knows she was attracted to those. It was that look he had going with the gloves, ragged jeans, boots, trench coat and he just had to have a Harley! She loved Harleys. She loved guys with Harleys. It would have been so easy if he were only good looking, okay, fucking gorgeous, but he had to be sweet, kind, charming, funny, understanding…goddamned insufferable and incorrigible. He made her feel normal, something she hadn't felt in a long while. Yeah, he was perfect, perfectly hot. Still, he had that pain and suffering that she just wanted to kiss away, because he was tormented every day of his life and she didn't want that for him. Rogue wanted him to be truly happy, because he deserved that. She had never wanted something so badly until that moment, but it was something that she couldn't have, take, ask or request.

Looking at her hauntingly beautiful face, he noticed how cold and white it looked, aware that she must be as cold as he was after that crazy ride. Her eyes regarded him with trust, telling him that she'd go where he led her. It made his heart soar and pummel back down at the same time. She would only lead her to her doom, no matter how hard he tried to make her happy, or how much he just wanted to be with her in some way. He'd be lying if he denied that. But damn she was something to look at. Those big vivacious emerald eyes, pouty kissable lips, long lengthy legs, sexy body that was really starting to fill out in soft feminine curves…she was truly striking, if only she saw that. She was a goddess. He wanted so badly to caress her skin, that alabaster skin that looked soft as silk. She was unique and stunning with her auburn and white hair, Gothic attire and heavy makeup. Remy never really was into Goths, but he had never been so turned on by it as he had in Rogue. It was just such a perfect look for her, he only wished that she'd lay off the makeup a bit and show off her flawless features. He was so in trouble, she was sassy and feisty and he loved his women like that. Rogue was every definition of the word. She had this constant sadness and darkness that he just wanted to wash away from her beaten body to see that heart melting smile of hers. However, she was also just so caring, generous, witty, strong and intelligent and it was something about her personality that drew him in and threatened to never let go.

"Y' wan' some coffee or somethin' t' warm up, chere?" asked Remy, eyeing her rosy cheeks with concern. That gaze of care made her heart flutter.

"Yeah, that'd reallah be welcome raht about now, Rem," replied Rogue with a soft smile. Yup, his heart melted.

He nodded and then turned back to drive his Harley.

Revving up the engine and taking a few turns, he quickly parked his bike in front of a small coffee house, his favorite…and Rogue's too, they'd come together a few times, just chilling out together for the day, laughing and talking about anything and everything.

Dismounting from Remy's prized possession, they meandered into the coffee shop after a slight distraction of Remy, who walked in front of her, purposely blocking her path, whenever she tried to step around him. The result was her putting her weight into the insufferable man and trying to push him aside, operative word being trying. The truth of the matter was that he had about 70 to 80 pounds and a little more than ten inches than on her, plus, he was stronger, "Remy, move it!"

So a mini battle ensued, with her hooking out a leg, and trying to make him fall. However, he retaliated by pushing her forward and using her momentum to send her falling forward, only to have him catch her, before she hit the ground, fuming at him, making his voice resonate with laughter, earning the Cajun a strong punch to the arm, which made him wince, "Dat hurt, chere!" She shook her head, ignored him and strolled into the ambient little coffee shop with a 'wounded' Swamp Rat tagging along after her.

Inside the shop, they greet a short brunette waitress, who motions them to sit wherever they choose in the empty shop with mellow music playing in the background and fabric hung all over the deep colored walls. The pair chooses a secluded table in the corner with comfortable easy chairs and a sturdy carved wooden table. They settled in quickly with Remy gentlemanly pulling out the chair for Rogue.

"Gawd, it's February and it's still maiht as well beh Antarctica out thare," complained Rogue.

Remy chuckled, a deep jovial sound, "Not like de south, non?"

Rogue smiled at him, and for the time being, she's just a girl with a hot guy, talking about normal trivial stuff. Remy somehow always made her feel normal, not some freak of nature and she liked being with him. For awhile, she was just a regular girl. Somehow, when she was around him, everything was better; the world was brighter, there was laughter and the voices disappeared and she was completely there, completely her. He understood her so well; he knew all the silence's stories. Remy didn't bring them up with her, he just made it better for her, because it was the only thing he could do for he could feel the ocean of misery which preyed on her soul. He knew the affliction behind her stony glares, strong exterior and façade of being untouchable. He saw through her and knew what had hurt her. Still, it all went away when he was near. Everything about the agony of her life vanished and she was content and at peace, with him.

"Not lahke tha south at all," responded Rogue, "It's actually warm thare right now."

"Warm, pro'ly on the prelude t' some heat wave…" Remy trailed off.

"Yeah, which is whah ya family is most definitelah insane," said Rogue.

Remy smirks at her, "and why's dat, chere?"

"They came ta New York in tha middle of winter, when it's freakin' ahce box," explained Rogue. Remy just laughed.

"Y' really haven't seen jus' how insane they are," replied Remy with a wink, shaking his head and laughing.

"Care ta fill meh in?" she asked conversationally, very curious about Remy's family, for they were just so lively, charming, overbearing, disturbing and hilarious at the same time.

"Sure," replied Remy charmingly. He didn't know why, but he was just comfortable with Rogue. She made him laugh and smile when nothing in his life was funny, when everything in his life had been nothing but despair and heartache, except for a few select moments. Rogue had seen the harsh reality, the tormented suffering of his life in all its woe, experiencing them like she was him. She knew what it was like too, to have the darkness consume you, to have no hope, to be so alone and cold, numb and unfeeling. She knew what it was like to seem so happy when you were dying inside, a little everyday. How everyday that ember just faded in its glow a little, until one day, it'd completely die out. But that would never happen, they'd burn out, not fade away. (A quote Kurt Cobain made before him from Neil Young: 'I'd rather burn out, than fade away.' They're tragic like that.) She knew all the sorrow behind the smile. But somehow, she was able to make that ember glow a little clearer in her presence. Hope, it was grains of sand slipping away from his hands everyday and it had been awhile since he'd been able to grasp some more pieces, but she seemed to help him gather them, until he had a handful, two or three even. And then, he was happy, she took it all away and left a candle burning bright in the dark. She made him happy.

Just then, the petite brunette waitress who'd ushered them in, approached their table to take their order. Her long hair was long and wavy and pulled back into a loose braid which fell to her right shoulder. She was dressed in all black, the uniform of the establishment, with the required t-shirt reading, 'Heaven Found in Coffee,' the name of the shop. As well, she had black flared pants, black Converse high tops and a black zip up hoodie.

"I'm Mandy, may I take your order?" she asked with smiling brown eyes.

"Yeah, Ah'll have a mocha latte, please with a chocolate croissant," requested Rogue. The waitress nodded and moved her gaze over to Remy to take his order.

"I'll take de chicory coffee, wit' a baguette," ordered Remy. Mandy then jotted both orders down and went behind the counter to fill them.

"Ya were tellin' meh 'bout ya family…" started Rogue.

Remy let out a snicker, "Well, dere was dis one Christmas when mon pere lost a challenge wit' Tante Mattie and she made him sign up as one o' dose men dat dress up as Santa Claus at de mall. Henri, Emil, Lapin and I got work as elves jus' t' see what horrible t'ings de kids would do t' him. Mercy, Tess and Lucas would come lots and line up for photos and when it was deir turn, dey'd always find new and improved ways t' embarrass de man and he couldn't do anyt'ing because he'd get fired and he couldn't get fired," recalled Remy with a wistful smile.

"We'd always let de craziest people get in first and longest by rearrangin' de lines and Tante Mattie had us set up tons o' hidden cameras to catch all de action. It was great. Dere was dis guy who must've been at least twenty, but has this mental deficiency dat makes him think dat he's about five or six. So here's dis grown up man acting like a complete five year old having dis huge temper tantrum about some toy his totally fazzled mot'er won't get him and all dese people are starin' at him in de line. De shoppers are pointing; it was insane. Henri and I felt 'pity' for the mom, so we ushered dem in first, t' de relief o' de mom. De boy was a loudmouth and really insulted mon pere, was totally obnoxious, not to mention greedy and the expression of Jean-Luc's face was hilarious. The boy barely fell short of pulling off his beard and revealing him to be a fraud and ruining Christmas forever for those little kids waiting for Santa. Mon pere is still tryin' t' live it down to dis day," revealed Remy.

Rogue burst out laughing, "Ya were all horrible!" Somehow he was content spewing off anecdotes of before his father changed so abruptly to Rogue. It was freeing sharing with her the times when he was a kind, generous man before the tithe and the Elixir changed him.

"Mabbe, but it was so wort' it," replied Remy offhandedly, "Dere was also de time dat Lapin lost a bet t' Emil an' had t' hit on every woman he saw, so o' course it had t' be Mardi Gras and we dragged him int' de crowds. I've never seen a man get slapped by so many women, beaten up by boyfriends, laughed at and ignored so much in an hour; 382 times by Tessa's count. Den dere was de time dat Henri and I were dared t' streak butt naked wit' paper bags over our heads at de Thieves' annual black-and-white ball where all de Thieves rub shoulders and boast about who stole de most. It's like every pompous rich people party from a typical Hollywood movie except ten times worse and everyone is proper t' de extreme, so o' course m' an' Henri had t' do it and it was worth de embarrassment jus' t' see de faces o' disgust from de old folks."

Rogue was hysterical with laughter, and Remy didn't stop.

"Mercy once put pee in all de wine dat was served t' de Assassins at a Cessation of Hostility Dinner when Belle and I were engaged. Dey didn't notice alt'ough Marius thought it was de best draught he'd ever tasted and asked for the brand and year. Last we heard, he still buyin' de brand and getting disappointed dat it just doesn't taste de same as before. Dere was also dat time when Tessa got Lucas so drunk, he started to disco and fart de national anthem at de same time," said Remy.

"We so have ta get him drunk!" squealed Rogue.

"Hell yes. Den we video tape it and add it t' de collection of Lucas' Drunken Disasters," said Remy.

"I'm not even gonna ask about that. Ah can't believe Mercy did that!" said Rogue.

"Well, she did, so if y' eat or drink somethin' dat tastes funny…" trailed off Remy.

"Argh…that's disgusting!" exclaimed Rogue. Remy just laughed.

"So you're basically willing ta get naked fo' a cheap thrill," analyzed Rogue.

"In mo' ways den one," replied Remy with a suggestive wink.

"Knowin' ya, it's probably on ya resume, 'will get naked for cheap thrill'," commented Rogue.

"No, dere's…ot'er more…compelling…t'ings dere," he said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Ah so did naht hear that!" said Rogue, pressing her hands to her ears, as if trying to block out his words.

"Too late fo' dat, chere, we bot' know y'd wan' a front row seat fo' m' next foray int' streakin'," said Remy.

"Only ta see tha professah and Logan's faces when ya do it," said Rogue, feeling a blush creep into her cheeks at the suggestion of Remy…unclothed.

"Sure…" said Remy, noticing her slight coloring on the cheeks. She recovered a nanosecond later and pinned him with a death glare which made his blood run a bit faster. She was so totally beautiful when she was mad.

Taking a sip of his coffee which had been brought along with Rogue's and their snacks, he asks her, "So what about y' life by de roarin' Mississippi? Bound t' be some rat'er exciting adventures dere."

"Thare's not much ta tell," said Rogue, slowly, closing up slightly.

"Oh c'mon, I jus' told y' dat I streaked through a black tie dinner," said Remy.

Rogue rolled her eyes, caving, "Fine, for the spirit of your streaking, you get: the time there would be a social worker coming ovah ta mah house ta check up on how Irene was treating meh. She was a total bitch named Ms. Amelia Henderson. So anahway, tha day she was comin' ovah, I had ta cook, since Irene had ta take care o' somethin' in town. Ah made spaghetti and meatballs with meat sauce. Howevah, I mixed in somethin' special inta Henderson's sauce courtesy of Marbles, tha neighbor's dog when he had a spell of diarrhea."

"Now that is disturbing," commented Remy with a groan.

"Tha's not tha half of it," said Rogue excitedly, "Part way through the dinner, Henderson goes, 'This sauce tastes…strange…what did you put in it?' Irene tells her that I made it and I tell her that I added nothing out of the ordinary, but she was still suspicious, so Irene takes her spoon and scoops up some sauce from tha bitch's plate and I nearly died then. I had spent the whole night trahin' not ta laugh at the faces she made and Irene, being blind, couldn't see them."

"And you thought I was horrible! Y' got a blind woman to eat dog poo!" exclaimed Remy.

"Anyway," restarted Rogue, ignoring Remy's comment, "Irene eats the sauce, gives me this look that the woman can't see and tells her, 'It tastes fahne,' giving her this look lahke she was insane. That night, she told meh ta nevah do it again and that I wouldn't get punished because '…that woman had it coming…' It was so awesome ta see Henderson's face when Irene told her the sauce was fahne," related Rogue.

"Remind me to never get y' angry, Rogue," commented Remy.

"That's nothin', mah best friend Liz and Ah once broke intah this jock's car, who had made fun of mah art project. We put a trashy thong in it and tha incriminating evidence made his cheerleader girlfriend yell across the quad that, they were through and that he wasn't that good in bed anyway and that he had a small package. It was so great; he was tha most popular guy in tha school," said Rogue as she laughed heartily at the memory.

"What happened t' Liz? Y' still talk t' her?" asked Remy.

"No, she died a few weeks befoh mah powers manifested in a car accident with a drunk drivah. We had a fight and she was so distraught she ran out of mah house. She was so wrapped up in it, she didn't see tha car until it was too late," whispered Rogue, her eyes downcast.

Remy then reached across the table and took her hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze, bringing her attention from her half eaten croissant to their hands, looking so perfect held together to his enchanting eyes, getting lost in them. She could see there that he understood and knew what it was like to lose someone important like that. He understood so much about her.

"M' sorry," he whispered and she nodded and then she remembered Etienne from his memories.

"Et?" she questions.

"Yeah," he says with a sad smile, "When we were 15, we got our first mission wit'out experienced T'ieves. M' cousin, Etienne and I were t' steal dis diamond from someone called de Antiquary, but in our haste after we got it out from de case, we tripped a silent alarm, which gave off sleeping gas. When we awoke, we were tied t' chairs and de diamond was still hidden on Etienne's body. We quickly got rid o' de ropes and got out o' de facility, but the Antiquary's hired thugs were on our trail, chasing us t' dis cliff. We had no choice but t' jump off int' de dark water or we'd be in the hands of de Antiquary. So we jumped. De water was so cold and de waves kicked us int' all dese rocks. Suddenly, dis huge wave comes and crashes Et against a huge rock, knocking him unconscious. When I found his body, it was too late, he'd drowned."

And then, the reason why he was always so meticulously perfect when stealing something was revealed.

"Ya shouldn't blame yahself," whispered Rogue.

"Ya shouldn't eit'er," whispered Remy back.

They shared an understanding smile between the two of them. They finished the rest of their food in a comfortable silence, just content to be in each other's presence.

"Ah don't wanna go home, yet," admitted Rogue, when they had finished their snacks and coffee.

"Me, neit'er, chere. Y' wanna go t' de park?" he suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds lahke a good way to blow some time," agreed Rogue.

"Remy looked around, before spotting the waitress and asking, "May we have de bill, please?"

She smiled warmly, brown eyes twinkling with knowing, "It's on the house; you're a cute couple. I insist."

Both southerners balked, doing a double take, looking like deer caught in the headlights, mouths opening and closing like goldfish.

"Uh…we're not…" started Rogue, she couldn't finish it, not when all she wanted was to be with him.

"Um…we're just…" tried Remy, it died on his lips before he could utter the heartless word of friends.

Fortunately, the waitress had moved into the back room to grab some more coffee and she didn't hear a word of their failed protests.

An awkward moment passed between the two where neither could look into the other's eyes nor speak.

At last, after what seemed to be eternity, Remy breaks the weighted silence, "So we'd better head t' de park b'fo' it starts getting' dark."

"Yeah," agreed Rogue, hastily pulling on her jacket, wanting to vacate the heavy atmosphere of the coffee shop. Remy did the same, they avoided eye contact.

Racing to the exit, they tried to outrun each other. Why? Remy wanted to block her again and Rogue wanted to escape before he could initiate his evil scheme. However, because he had longer legs and some mutant agility, he beat her outside the door with a chiming of the bells. Rogue sighed and stopped running as soon as he dashed out the door, rolling her eyes and slowly walking out the door. Remy awaited her with a smug grin.

"Must we do this again?" asked Rogue, annoyed, crossing her arms.

"But of course," said Remy.

Rogue's shoulders slumped in defeat…and then she darted to Remy's right, sprinting for the bike.

"Dat's not fair, chere!" called Remy as he chased after her, closing in fast.

"Says you, shugah!" replied Rogue breathlessly.

Victory was close; all she had to do was mount the bike before he did.

But it was snatched in the blink of an eye when Remy reached out, grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him, then spinning around so that his butt landed first, seated on the bike, winning the race, pulling Rogue down to sit on his lap.

"You suck!" she admonished, childishly sticking out her tongue, from her position on his lap, turning to face him, intensely aware that his arms were still wrapped around her body.

"Where would you like m' to suck?" asked Remy with innocent coy.

Rogue slapped him hard on the arm.

"Aw! Why are y' always so violent towards me?" asked Remy giving her his best puppy dog eye, of course, they glowed red, ruining the effect, sort of, if anything, it worked more on Rogue, because his eyes were definitely the feature of his body she loved the most.

She laughed at his cute pouting face, realizing, not for the first time, she was conceding to 'the face.'

"Because ya deserve it, Swamp Rat," said Rogue.

"Swamp Rat? I t'ought I was 'shugah,'" complained Remy, imitating her sultry Southern accent.

"Yah're Swamp Rat because ya stole mah victory!" she said mock passionately, escaping his embrace, reluctantly, so that they could sit properly on the bike. The world suddenly seemed so much colder and Remy was already missing her snug against him.

"Riiight…y' d' know dat I'm a t'ief, right?" said Remy. Rogue just slapped him on the arm again.

"Again wit' de hitting! Why are y' always hittin' m'?" asked Remy, pretending to be hurt.

Rogue pulled on her helmet and sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, pulling herself close to his body, making him forget about his 'pain,' and instead becoming painfully aware of how perfectly she fit on him and how right that felt.

"Shut up and drahve, shugah," said Rogue.

"As de lady wishes," conceded Remy as he revved the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

&

They streaked to the park on the back of his Harley and squealed to a stop in front of the sidewalk beside a parking meter. Helping Rogue dismount, they made their way to the parking meter. Taking out a penny, he winked at her, giving her a conspirator grin and lifting a finger to his lips to silent her. Charging up the penny until it glowed a faint red, he inserted it into the money slot. A second later the time on the meter jumped to 10 hours.

"Ah'm not even gonna ask," said Rogue in mock exasperation.

"What? De charged penny just messes up de mechanism inside and jumps de meter t' an insane number of time," explained Remy anyway, mock innocently.

Rogue shook her head, lacing her arm through his when he offered it. Snuggling up close to him to ward off the cold, they entered the quiet, tranquil, empty, yet beautiful Westchester Park. All the trees, grass and other greenery was blanketed in a thick layer of pristine untouched snow.

They had walked in a easy silence for some time, just enjoying the way the park looked, untouched by anyone; the way the snow crunched against their feet and each other's company. Suddenly, Remy pulled her to a stop, looking off to the side, a curious expression crossing his features, "Well, would y' look at dat? Don't see dat everyday," commented Remy.

"What?" asked Rogue, following his line of vision. The next thing she knew, her feet had left the ground and Remy had hoisted her a good three feet off it. He then hefted her into the air and the next second she was on her back, in the snow, making a rather large impact crater.

"And dat, chere, is for hitting m'," said Remy, standing over her with a smug grin.

"Yah're so gettin' it, Swamp Rat!" exclaimed Rogue in warning. Remy just laughed backing away from her, but he would eat his words.

Rogue darted to her feet and soon, got a head start chasing him. Seeing her come after him, he started to sprint away from her. Suddenly, Rogue leapt into the air and tackled him into the snow head first. He let out a yelp as Rogue rolled off him.

"Dat's cold, chere," complained Remy as he rolled onto his back to brush the snow off his face.

"Oh trust meh, Ah know," said Rogue accusingly, as she played dump truck and poured a handful of snow back onto his face and running away.

"Oh dat's real mature!" accused Remy as he dashed after her, grabbing some snow for ammunition. Catching up to her, he dumped the snow down her jacket, exposing it to the bare skin of her neck, under he scarf as the snow trickled down her back. She let out a shocked scream.

"Yah're SO immature," rebuked Rogue as she grabbed some snow off a pine bough and stuffed it down his shirt. Remy shivered as the cold invaded his body and streaked down his torso.

"Okay, dat's it! Y're askin' fo' it!" shouted Remy as he pushed her into the snow, landing on top of her. Holding her hands on top of her head with one hand, he pushed snow into her face with the other. Watching her splutter some of it out from her mouth, he laughed at the murderous expression on her face.

Somehow, one of her hands escaped his grasp and soon, he had a mouthful of snow in his mouth. He got off her, spitting out the snow and she rushed off to form a few snow balls, hiding in the trees.

"I'm gonna get y'!" threatened Remy as he too began to form some snow balls.

Thump. A rather hard snowball, caked with gravel hit him square on the butt with deadly accuracy leaving a slight sting. Hearing her hysterical laughter and a flash of ducking auburn and white, he turned his own snowball towards her, throwing it straight into the bush and rewarded with an 'Ouch!' as it hit her in the abdomen.

Soon, an all out war incurred with no real winner, just Remy and Rogue getting cold, wet and bruised. Snow was shot back and forth as were the sounds of running, laughter, yelps of pain and victorious hoots. Remy had stuck Rogue's entire head into the snow at one point and she had the success of nailing him several times in the head from afar with her aim. Currently, they were embroiled in a war of superiority wrestling and rolling around in the snow, getting even more wet and cold. They were breathing hard and it was even more unclear just who the winner of this battle was.

Suddenly, after Rogue had shoved more snow into his face, he rolled off her, lying beside her, resting. He stuck out his hand and breathlessly uttered, "Truce?"

Rogue eagerly accepted and took his hand, "Truce," and they just laid there next to each other, gazing into each other's eyes, taking in their messed up, soaked appearance.

Looking into his eyes, she saw her sanity, something that would somehow take away all her pain and suffering, but she couldn't accept his help, not when the consequences bore over her like an axe murderer just about to chop off his victim's head. Looking into her eyes, he saw his something that would rescue him from all the violence and torment, but he couldn't accept her aid, not when the penalties would destroy everything he cared so much about in her. And then all that hope and brightness vanished; it was gone, shattered, broken into a million pieces, waiting to be made whole and fixed.

After what seemed like an eternity of just staring into each other's eyes, Rogue broke the silence.

"Well tha coffee ta warm up was reallah pointless," she commented.

"No kidding. Let's go back b'fo' we get even mo' cold," suggested Remy.

"Sure," agreed Rogue, as he helped her up and arm in arm, wet and cold, they walked back to his Harley, mounted it and rode off for a short cold ride back to the Institute, the bitterness of Valentine's Day, finally catching up to them.

&

Stalk up on happiness while you can, the Pieces inspired chappie is next…

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER TEN: BROKEN**

Oh yeah, I'm writing this late, and I still gotta pull off some homework, so excuse the messiness.

_**I'M BEGGING FOR REVIEWS!**_

simba317


	10. Broken

**Disclaimer:** In the time it took to update, I've taken over the universe and bought out Marvel. Romy is now in my clutches and they can never be messed up again! …Oh what a brilliant dream…on a side note, I never will own anything…I don't own X-Men Evo, Marvel does. I don't own 'Pieces' by Sum41, they do. (Cone rocks!) I don't own 'Are You Sad?' by Our Lady Peace, they do. (Raine Maida is hot…even though he's married to Chantal Kreviazuk with two kids…)

**Author's Notes:** Gosh, I'm so inspired by all of you guys' reviews. I loved them for this chapter…I really did. I'm glad that you all enjoyed the Romyness. It was really such a joy to write it. I somehow really loved writing tortured Romyness. It's so fun. But wow, my schedule totally blows right now because of all the IB subjects I'm taking…I'm such a nerd…but anyway…it kinda reduces my writing, reading and reviewing time…but I'll scrape by. Although, come next semester, I'll have Bio IB, Social IB, Chemistry and Math…so it'll be a bitching course load and my time will be even more reduced. However, never fear, next term, I get a full spare. Again, I'll try my best to churn out something at least once, if not twice a month.

I'm sure you all are fawning and quite happy at how things are going in the Romy relationship…but be aware that I like twists and turns…and this is one of them…remember…I've been giving clues for awhile…'Pieces' by Sum41. However, remember no matter how terribly I mess them up, I am a BIG ROMY FAN! So although there'll be suffering for them, know that eventually it'll all work out. I'm not evil like that. Although, I'm not saying how far eventually is…just remember that this fic is planned for the long haul…There's so much I wanna write for this fic…it's gonna be one of those long epic ones…I really love fics with a tad of romance, drama, action, adventure, and maybe a hint of sci-fi, mystery and supernatural elements. So I think my writing in this fic and URX will showcase that. URX WILL BE UPDATED WHEN THIS CHAPTER IS DONE! …well, this and the next…there is another split…I realized it was WAY too long, again…but it will have the 'Pieces' inspired bits…some anyway. As you can see, my one chapter idea…always ends up too long with all the detail I inflate into it…so Stargazer will definitely be the last bit of Valentines stuff. Yeah…Cracks was supposed to have all of this in it…but ended up being a four chapter arc…LOL…then I really WILL get to URX…I've neglected it for so long…poor baby.

So sit back and prepare to load up on some good old fashioned Romy angst. More Pieces inspired angst next chap. The next chap is really what the song inspired me to write and is what I've wanted to do forever, that and my 'Are You Sad?' scene. One of the reasons this fic exists is probably because of that Our Lady Peace song.

**Shout Outs:**

**CatF:** I always look forward to your reviews because they're just so sweet and inspiring, brimming with enthusiasm. LOL…you just love to be special, huh? Romy is so what is making money for fanfictiondotnet…did I mention I can't stand nonRomys, I mean, sure, I'll read some to check to see if they're good or not, but more times than not, the nonRomys just aren't fics I really want to read and it's so hard to find good Romys. Strange how I know exactly what you're thinking…You know…I find it so much easier to blame outside sources for all of Remy's troubles so that his life without them really does seem a lot better. I mean Thieves Guild with the tithe…BLAME CANDRA! I really like it when Jean Luc and Remy get along and what not…so it was a very nice solution. That later evolved into BLAME GENEVIEVE! One Saturday afternoon, when I was typing up the third chapter months and months ago…I heart Emil too, he's like the Guild equivalent of John, in my opinion…so Emil and Lapin are just John extensions…and I suppose that's why Remy and John are friends…I think you really realize that Emil is a John extension in TRtF with Emil freaking out because of Wanda…I think I'll do a scene with John, Emil and Lapin…it'd be so insane and one for the ages.

If we were in Bayville, we'd so be mutant lovers and fawn over Remy for hours, start and fanclub and hassle Rogue until they got together. Torpid is cute…that's why you always make the evil villain hurt the cute kid…it makes them more evil and makes you hate them more…you hurt a little kid, how could you! The gas has to be green because it's one of those evil villain things like hideouts in the desert! You made that comment in URX…it's just one of those things…to make them more evil…because God knows nothing says evil like green gas and desert hideouts…oohhh…I'm gonna plan world domination while all my evil minions die from heat stroke…I'm so glad that you love my Romy paragraphs…I think I'm getting the hang of them…most of it is how I feel about Remy, Rogue and them together…and their opinions on the matter from psychoanalyzing the characters. It always sucks that they're so perfect for each other…but they don't think it'd work out, so they just hang in this limbo of friends and love and that's the brilliance of Romy.

I had to make them free and I'm glad you liked that…it was just something Batgirl said on that Batman and Robin movie on drag racing her motorcycle…well Robin's motorcycle…I developed a crush on Chris O'Donnell because of that movie…I just really wanted a scene where they could just be free with no problems for a time, and a bike ride just seemed perfect for that…a lot of what I write is on the spot and inspired by other parts of the fic I write…Your addicted to my story! WOW! Of course Remy is HOT! I mean, I think we'd all love to stop and stare at him…like DAMN, he's fine…well, he won't lead her to her doom…he just thinks that…it's his mentality and because you seem frustrated…I'll say that I'm doing it right. Marvel can die…sometimes…

It is a very sad quote: 'I'd rather burn out, than fade away.' But I've always loved it…it really says a lot. No one wins against Mattie…just Mattie…Jean Luc should know that…and the Santa thing was too good to pass up. OMG…now that you say it, I could so picture Remy telling Henri that streaking at a black and white ball is 'the chance of a lifetime…' it's so Remy, eh? Lucas getting drunk is another 'From the Shadows' ref…I believe on her 18th birthday, Remy told Rogue that she should wait till Lucas got drunk to see him dance. But I just HAD to put that in.

We really do need to flame Marvel. I hate that they put Rogue and Remy through the wringer so much…you would think that with the amount of fanfic that's written on them, they'd figure out that we like them together, sheesh. They're in like…they really are. That bike race was a totally on the spot thing…but I'm really proud with how it turned out…just because it was so cute. Unresolved Sexual Tension…the greatness of all Romy, and of course there's just a tad in there. I'm surprised no one commented on the waitress…No one can resist the demon eyes…I'm sure it has properties akin to 'take me now…' She called him shugah…yup…but yeah…they'll get together…eventually…all great loves are famous because they overcame stuff and theirs is no different. Eventually is whenever I get around to it…but don't worry…there's a really sweet moment planned when they do…it's very…well…you'll see…right now…it's a kingdom of angst.

**Serenity01:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked the Romy interaction.

**Nettlez:** Thanks again for the review. Remy keeps on thinking everything will end bad because of all his past experiences and all of his let downs and he also thinks he's inadequate for Rogue. And yeah, there's a bit of pessimism there. You see more of that this chapter. Cute Romyness rules. Yes, Romy fluff is all cuddles and hugs. Rogue Wanderers really is growing…we've got so many fics and SO many staffers and subscribers now…yay…there didn't used to be any this summer! Sure is a growth. Only get the good fics though. I'm glad that you love this.

**Enchantedlight: **Fangkew for the review!

**Bored247:** Getting them together too fast would so ruin the fun! So right now, prepare to really feel the angst…they will get it right, eventually. I'm glad you liked the snowball fight because it was the most fun part to write. Ooohh…you're a big procrastinator, so am I! Go multitasking! Wow, an addiction spanning coffee and chocolate. That's deep. Thanks, I love it. I really am trying to update soon! After this chappie, I'm gonna put my attention back on URX. I miss doing it. It's so much fun and completely AU!

**ISHY!;** Gosh, I so love it when you review. I'm honestly not happy with my reviews until you review and then it makes them all better. You are one of the reviewers that always make me happy to get a review from. Adorableness. That was so what this chapter was about, eh? I couldn't help it. It was originally gonna be smushed with this chapter to make a happy, then super angst-y chapter, but then I decided to be nice and give you a sweet little chappie, because it really was running long, again. I get WAY too into the descriptions and then sidetracked when I think of something else great to write in from my thoughts.

Ignore the bad parts, huh? Don't we all do that in Romys? Well, like with TRtF…angst always makes Romy worth it in the end…and this shall be the milk from the angst cow. I loved your metaphor and yes, it was uber fluffy. I'm glad that you like the way I'm writing them. Of course, the Harley, a part of me was squealing when I wrote that…I just HAD to put it in…it's like a must do…I'm glad I got you to grin…Oh, I love your reactions. I'm glad I made you laugh and giggle at their stories and the snowball fight.

I really think I do miss snow too…and that's how that bit came about…I love snow, a lot. But it's cold…besides…it was the perfect opportunity for a little cuteness, touching and laughter between Rogue and Remy and it was just too fun an opportunity to pass up. I understand all about snow and summer…it sucks, in summer, you always want snow and in winter, one week in, it's like bring on the heat. It's the Canadian thing…Canadian winters can be a bummer…but it's home and I love home. But I heart snow…the kid in me always gets excited to see how low the temperatures will dip and how much snow will fall. I heart snow. Aww…I cheered you up! Sweet….adorable Romyness dancing in your head when you sleep due to me…yay! Thanks for the review!

**Hunza:** How do I think of this stuff? I have no clue, writing just sorta comes naturally to me. But it's just a case of visualizing what I see them doing and putting it on paper. Romy fluff parade…hell yeah…but it's all leading to DOOM! Okay, so that's an exaggeration, but it's sorta like the calm before the storm…I mean, I've been hinting 'Pieces' for so long.

I'm glad you enjoyed the scuffles, they were just random things I put in that really turned out well. Their stories were so on the spot and I'm glad that you liken to them. Snow ball fights are SO fun…and I just had to put that in and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm centered on Romy too, so don't worry. And as for being like real kids, I think Rogue really needed that to be normal and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, Remy's got issues….a lot of them…I really don't think Rogue should be the only angst-y one here. I'm never bored by reviews! I love them! Wealth in Chinese, huh? Gotta show me some time…I'll tell ya if you're right or not. Thanks for the review!

**MagCat:** I'm glad you loved the Romyness and the way I write them. Wow, it's great to know I've got their personalities down. Torpid didn't have a premonition because Evan was away. She just got out of bed when she heard the soldiers and found Calliban, who told her to get Callisto. Knowing that Evan's with the X-Men….she tried to get Callisto to connect her meanings and get help from Evan. I think I'll clarify that later. Thanks for the review!

**2NSANE4U:** Well, I'm not exactly begging for reviews, sweetie…just BOGGED BY WORK! I'm an unfortunate busy IB high school student. IB is the equivalent of the geek elite…basically, it's a more intense program for selected smart kids at my school, which means bigger projects, more homework and a hell of a lot harder work…so I've been busy, but I'm desperately trying to get this up before October is over. LOL! Nah, they're NOT oblivious…just freaked out, scared and not ready to take that risk. They've got their reasons too, which at my schedule will be revealed in chapter 12. But thanks for the review! It was a nice shock to get. I mean…I haven't updated for a month. It was really sweet. Thanks! I was finally able to get a higher number of reviews and match my highest number for chappie eight!

It's late, it's late, it's very very late! I know. I started this right after I updated my last chap…but boy, have I been busy…school just doesn't let up on me…oh well. I really hope this gets out to you guys before November.

Damn…looks like I have to put off my 'Pieces' inspired chapter until Ch. 12…they're so freaking ass long…that I have to break it up…oh well. I swear…the 'Pieces' part is one of the reasons I wanted to do this fic. One of my beginning plans for this fic, you'll see in the last scene at the end…it's actually one of my first ideas for the fic after I wrote the first chapter…which was random babbling. I actually think the first chap is a bit crappy now…well, really crappy.

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN: BROKEN:**

* * *

_**I tried to be perfect but nothing was worth it**_

_**I don't believe it makes me real**_

_**I thought it'd be easy but no one believes me**_

_**I meant all the things I said**_

_**If you believe it's in my soul**_

_**I'd say all the words that I know**_

_**Just to see if it would show**_

_**That I'm trying to let you know**_

_**That I'm better off on my own**_

_---'Pieces' by Sum41_

_

* * *

_

_The Master of Magnetism sat hunched at his desk, quietly tapping away on the keyboard to his computer, doing the hundred and one things it takes to run an organization like the Acolytes. It was late, and he was working well into the morning, but he was used to it by now. The room was done in stark luxury of the Victorian era, much like the study of Charles Xavier. The desk was of thick dark wood, his chair of expensive leather and the lighting from remarkable crystal chandeliers. The room screamed wealth that was out of place in his metal fortress, but hidden within the fabrics and wood was the metal that was his lifeblood. Papers were thick on his desk, things he had to file, things he had to sign or authorize and things he had to plan for. His work was never done. _

_His contacts had come through, once again and the Colorado Base for the manufacture of the Legacy Virus was terminated. Colossus, Gambit and Pyro were dead. He smiled sadly, it was a necessary sacrifice. He needed loyalty among his Acolytes and although those three were his best trained and most competent. He always knew that they didn't believe in his cause. It was merely blackmail that kept them to his crusade. They were wildcards and uncertainties and in his line of work, that was unacceptable. So he had to find a way to rid of them and still gain something in return. And he had, even though it was bittersweet and cruel. _

_It was through this single event, that he found out the not only the much needed data on the Legacy Virus but was also able to recruit all the mutants that were once reluctant to join his cause. Now he had only those loyal to him, even though their skills were lacking. His numbers were looking better all the time. At the time of Gambit, Pyro and Colossus' deaths, he had 12 mutants loyal to his cause. Now he had twenty, they were truly a force to be reckoned with and he looked forward to the day that they fought with his old friend, Charles. _

_His mutants were young, bright, impressionable and ruthless. They may have lacked the finesse of the now deceased Acolytes, but they would do well. They were passionate and believed. That was enough. The training, experience and competence would come later. They had seen cruelty, they had been wronged by the world and that was the fuel that fired their ways. It was a dangerous mix that he wholly knew how to utilize to his benefit. It was everything the Brotherhood lacked. Luckily, they weren't his problem anymore. _

_He had cut contact. It was better that way, for him and his children. He would reclaim them later. They were safe and that was good enough. He trusted Mystique to look after them. She had defected from him, gone to do her own private work. They no longer saw the world in the same way, and it was only natural for her to leave. He knew that she was seeking reconciliation with her children and that she would be a good guardian for the Brotherhood. They had a strange relationship. It was volatile and full of spite and vengefulness._

_But she always came back like a sick love song. Even when he first manipulated her as a young teenager, who had been spurned by the world, she had always somehow followed him. It was Magneto who made her the ruthless terrorist, assassin and fighter. He had molded her to be that. It was his influences which lead her down those roads and taught her to make violence her art. It was because of him that she went and learned to be a ruthless spy, a cunning combatant, and a ruthless killer. It didn't matter that he hurt and experimented on her son, cut her off from his plans or deceived her. She came back. _

_It was because she knew that it was only with him that she could see her goals reached. However, there were always conflicts of personality, interest, goals, ideals and ideas. For all the horrible things she did, Mystique still ran on a sick, twisted honor system. It was surprising, but there were things she was willing and not willing to do. Magneto made her cross all those lines at some point, and his plans for sacrificing Remy, John and Piotr was the last straw. _

_She was no longer for his cause the moment she was captured by Apocalypse. The world she saw in his mind had rightfully frightened her and changed her perspective on life and she could no longer live like she had with Magneto. It was time to break free and learning of his plot for the boys was the last straw. She couldn't reveal any of the plans she knew of when she was about to leave, but she gave them cryptic hints, hoping that they'd make it out alright. She had been sworn to secrecy on any of his plans the moment she started working with him all those years ago and she couldn't break that, no matter the circumstance. It would cause her more trouble in the end. But still she knew. No one deserved such a dishonest death. _

_Mystique was gone, but she had been weak and it was better this way, he knew. He now only dealt with those so purely on his cause and that was refreshing and he relished it. He was their messiah and they his tools from which to remake the world and spread his word. Mystique had wavered from the crusade and now had a different view on life. She would build bridges rather than burn them now and so they were at an impasse. Surprisingly, the resolved it not in their old ways and Mystique simply absolved all her dealings with Magneto and quit. He let her. He had no use for her anyway and she would service him by looking after the Brotherhood. It was the only place she had to go to. She would not intrude on Irene's life. _

_And then there was Sabretooth, the mercenary who believed in his cause, but a berserker like Sabretooth was only the hired muscle and he was too much of a risk to his recruits at the base, so he was only called in for special occasions. He was a liability that would only hinder the learning of his recruits. So he kept the man away from his charges. Besides, Magneto kept the man busy by making him running errands. Currently, Magneto believed he was at a bar somewhere, trying to get stoned drunk, but always failing. That or he was doing some mercenary work, wiping someone clean from existence, having his way with some unlucky woman or a million other horrific things. _

_Mastermind he had on base with him, reading the minds of all his young disciples so that he knew exactly what he thought of the great Magneto. When they thought anything negative about him, Mastermind would tell him and Magneto would speak to the mutant and alleviate all feelings of wrong or distrust in them. He was a manipulator, and he wasn't above using Mastermind to do so when they got out of line. But they didn't know that. Currently, Mastermind was asleep, recharging after another exhausting day of having to see into the minds of all the mutants and report to Magneto. The hunched, small, disfigured man had been recruited to Magneto's cause with fear and blackmail, but still, he was more loyal to Magneto and his crusade than the deceased Acolytes ever would be. _

_The man now more Magneto than Erik Lehnsherr used his powers to lift up a fancy ink pen. Grasping it in his hand, he signed three hand written letters. Letters that were pronouncing the fate of his three men to their families, death, sent to three loving families that would mourn for them in the most despairing of grief._

**_It is in my humblest apologies that I offer you the greatest condolences on his death. Be proud that they died a hero of their race. He will be forever remembered for his sacrifice as a martyr. He along with his comrades died for a powerful belief that will inspire the world. _**

_**Sincerely, **_

_**Erik Magnus Lehnsherr **_

_Cold, hard words that spoke of lies and deceit, they were, but the man had the audacity to write them and prepare to send them to their worried families. He spun these words differently for each letter, but the meaning remained the same. It showed what he had become, what a monster he had become. He was a succubus to humanity. With a strong hand, he signed their fates, but Erik Magnus Lehnsherr no longer had meaning. He was Magneto. _

_Down the halls from his office were the rooms of his trainees and staff, a training facility, dining area, kitchen, rec areas, sitting rooms and his massive computing labs for all the data he needed to gather to stay on top of his game. All was quiet in the fortress of metal. Magneto kept a strict regimen so all of his disciples were in their beds asleep. They followed him to the point of blindness, believing every silver tongued word and would leap at the chance to die a martyr. They trained relentlessly and believed Magneto, following his word perfectly, though they lacked skill. So they were in bed at this hour, do to Magneto's rules. Besides, any who didn't would be punished harshly. They were trained like soldiers, perfect, emotionless and all the way flawed because of it. They knew not of honor, only violence, glory, sacrifice, death and ascending as a martyr, all for a crusade, a dangerous crusade that would destroy the world. _

_But that tranquil silence was about to end; to become a silent omen telling of death. _

_Slowly, Magneto bought the last unsealed envelope to his lips. Just as he was about to seal the fates of three lives' whose families would grieve for an unfounded tragedy, an eerie phenomenon struck the metal fortress. _

_He felt it, a sudden awkward feeling in his very core making him instantly sick. With an unknown quickness it ended, only to be replaced by an extreme pain, stabbing at his entire body, as if someone had pulled all his nerve ending for pain. Magneto reached out with his mind, his power for the metallic base that was his home, trying to pry the metal from it to launch it at this powerful foe that had the audacity to use an electromagnet on him. Yes, he could sense it. He would dislodge all the metal in the area and hurl it at his enemy. Magneto's body began to spasm with the effort. Yet, the metal which was his calling to be a deity failed him. The electromagnet had demagnetized all the metal within his range. He could not be the god he was, his weakness was exploited. Magneto had to be around metal for his powers of magnetism to work and so, all you had to do was demagnetize any form of metal. For the first time in his life, he could not manipulate his precious metal even with his tremendous power. His last conscious thought was one of defeat and failure. The Master of Magnetism had failed. _

_His body went limp from the physical overdrive. The electromagnetic pulse had dangerous affects on him. It shut down several of his body systems momentarily. He was affected so because of his tie to it. The blackness captured him in its dangerous grasp. He collapsed on the floor in a sizzling heap. All the while all the electronics and lighting went on simultaneously in the base before reaching maximum capacity for efficiency and exploding in a show of sparks and shrapnel. Then, there was darkness, dreadful, foreboding, ominous darkness. It was what greeted those who had awakened from the explosions. _

_The base was dead and down. _

_Their breathing when awake was shallow and fast. Panic had set in within a second's notice. But they didn't have time to even react to it, because floating down the halls in detrimental green wisps of gas was the same chemical that had put the Morlocks to a vulnerable slumber, ready for the reaping of Stryker and his men. It seeped swiftly into each room, instantly quelling the minds of the occupants and forcing them to unconsciousness. All too soon, they were finished in this battle before they even had a chance to rebut. _

_Storming into the base with the help of some explosives was the crème of Stryker's soldiers, the Guardians. Large gas masks obscured their faces hidden under a large black helmet with night vision goggles. They wore black specially designed for stealth, military fatigues with a heavy duty jacket, utility vest and belt, many pocket cargo pants, thick gloves and clunky boots. Running into each room, they neutralized the mutants present with power nullifying collars, special plastic alloy cuffs and hefted them onto specially designed trolleys made to cart off unconscious people. They were wheeling them down to Magneto's special hangar bay, their rendezvous point to transport all the mutants back to base. _

"_Stryker, this is Robson, reporting for progress. Mission complete. All mutants detained and ready for transport from Acolyte Base, Morlock Sewers and Brotherhood Boarding House. Mission complete." _

_(Well, you now know how all of the mutants were captured by Stryker. In the next chapter, we'll check in with the Brotherhood and how they're doing.)_

* * *

She had once crushed on Scott Summers, not because he was sweet, kind, funny, and brilliant, mature, handsome, and bright, but not to mention the leader of the X-Men and owned a car. It was because he was safe. With him, she knew he would never make a move, never overstep her self imposed boundaries. He would never really take a chance on her; he was always in love with Jean, so he would never get a chance to hurt her. Their relationship had ended before it was even set into motion. They were destined to be friends. He loved her the way a brother loves a sister and she realized it was better this way. The moment she realized this, she was finally able to get over him, though it hurt that subconsciously she could be so twisted. Although it did help that there was a card throwing, smirking, undeniably sexy Cajun right around the corner. With Remy, she was playing with fire, fire that burned down her boundaries and always dared to venture closer because it could.

He was everything she ever wanted in a man and everything she could never have. She liked danger, always did and Remy was the ultimate danger for her. Every waking moment with him made her feel so alive when she felt so dead. He filled her senses, breathed life into her and set her blood on fire. He made her live again. He was a thrill. Still, he had the power to break her soul. He could hurt her in a moment and leave her forever to be cold, such is free will. She was taking a risk, but she knew she could only chance so much with him. The more she opened up to him, the more exposed she got and the more exposed she got; the more it would hurt when Remy shattered her heart to pieces. She knew he would somehow, someday, even if he didn't mean to, he would, because nothing could ever work between them. They were doomed to a half finished dance of seduction and temptation, never getting the sin that waited once they gave in.

He burned closer to her still…always burning away her walls, weakening them until they fell completely. It was always a danger to be around him and yet she could stay away because he was her ultimate temptation. He was the one that took it all away, made her feel normal, and made her happy. He was a drug she was drowning in. He was sin and she wanted more than anything to sin for him. It was all look no touch. He was the one person she could never bare to hurt with her powers and the one person she wanted more than anything to touch. She just wanted one real kiss with him, one chance to feel what it was like to have his lips caressing hers. That would never happen though. She could never get close enough. Even though, for him, she would let him break all her walls to her heart and put it back again.

If she had known herself better, she would have known he was the only one she wanted to give her heart to.

And then, there was something behind his eyes that she wanted to clear away. She knew what it was, though, she probably had it too. She could see the pain there, the unmasked torment. Rogue could see the haunted look in his eyes of the past that saw too much. Somehow, she wanted to change that. Yet it seemed such a clichéd notion, the one of the girl wanting to save the bad boy. Still, she knew that Remy needed to be saved and his eyes told the story. Remy's eyes always seemed to smolder with emotions, yet she was the only one who could decode them, whether it be the glimmer of happiness, the flutter of hope, the pools of despair, the dark sadness, the teasing glint, the lecherous sparkle or the glow of laughter. Half the time he drove her crazy, but she couldn't deny how much she loved her time spent with him. He made her feel special, like all the bad in the world couldn't touch her when she was with him. Rogue felt, for the first time in a long time, completely safe and it was with him. She owed it to him to at least make him feel alright. He was enticement on a motorcycle. How can you deny that?

But right now, she didn't question it, she didn't think about their circumstances, consequences or the future, she just enjoyed the feeling of having him pressed fully against the body, how warm she was from him and his sweet scent. It was so right, yet so wrong. She took in the feeling of being so free with him on that bike and it was here that all her troubles and his too, were nonexistent. For that moment, they were the wind. For that moment, they were happy. For that moment they were freed from their bounds.

She buried her face into his back, snuggling up against him and he couldn't deny how right that felt. She was a good girl and he couldn't mar that with his filth. However, he couldn't deny that he would go to great lengths just to see her smile, that wonderful, gorgeous, light-up-her-face smile, that didn't make much of an appearance that often. He didn't know why, but he didn't question why his life mission had become to make her smile. Tears, anguish and sorrow didn't belong on her beautiful face.

Some days the past got too close and she always seemed to chase it away and keep him in the now, where the screams of pain and coursing blood didn't haunt him. For the time being, she made him forget and live in the now where it wasn't dark, dangerous or tormenting. It was bright, safe and peaceful where she was and she took him to that place, that wonderful place. Remy was somehow addicted to that. He was addicted to her and he was in too deep to want to get out. The Cajun loved playing games. Games of the heart were his specialty. In this game, however, the stakes were raised and it had become more of a test of will than a game. How long could he stay within his self imposed boundaries to keep her safe before he failed? The penalties of breaking the boundaries, his rules would make her suffer just as much as it would torment him. His heart ached to cross, but his mind held him back and spoke of the rationality that bounded him to his promise. But he couldn't deny the truth, and the truth was, he wanted to walk across that boundary and break that fortress that had encaged his heart for so long.

Somewhere along the sad story of his life, he had his heart broken, severely. He had once loved, though shallow and filled with lies as it was. His first love had been Belle. It was a childish notion filled with miscalculations and a vision of who she should be and not who she was in reality. He had loved an image of Belle he had created from childhood and not the real her. There had always been some unrequited love on his part, he sensed, but he had never fully realized it until she willingly took the Elixir and became slave to Candra. The second his image broke was the instant he tasted how cruel the world could be and how he had loved a childhood friend, not the grown woman. Genevieve devoured his soul. She was the one that shattered his heart and played the player. He only bitterly got the last laugh in a cruel twist of fate. In the beginning, he had been toying with her and leading her on, but in the end, it turned out that she was doing the same, only he trusted her and fell for her, which let her worm her way into his heart and destroy his heart, leaving him in perpetual coldness from love.

They had been snakes, but Rogue was a pure angel. She was completely unlike any other woman he had even been with. Rogue was not the typical girl that Remy LeBeau courted, bedded and left in the dust. She wasn't like those girls at all. She had something in her that none of them ever would in his eyes, a fragility that he could never dare to break. Rogue was a class all her own and all the others paled in comparison. She wasn't a challenge or a game, some girl he slept with for the night and left in the morning. Rogue was more than that, always would be and he knew it. Mostly, he realized, he didn't deserve to be with her, not when he'd taint her purity with the blood on his hands.

He loves being with Rogue because his soul was whole again with her. She had repaired it, without his knowing and now, they were connected. God always seemed to be laughing at him. It was the only way to explain how the one woman he wanted to be with was the one he never could in more ways than one. His life was harsh, twisted and broken, filled with shards that cut and the brutality of everlasting torture. Sometimes it seemed that he would never be remedied of it, but then, Rogue would come along and she was a miracle cure. Why was it that everything was better when she was near?

He didn't dwell on his thoughts though, he just gunned the engine and let the bike run faster so that nothing in that moment mattered except that he was in her presence and everything was okay and he was truly happy for once. He was alive again and that was enough.

(Man, I reread this and seriously swooned…)

Some time later, with the find on their tails, trying to catch them, they finally made it back to the Institute, zooming in through the gates and skidding to a dramatic stop in the garage. Remy killed the engine reluctantly and the two pulled their helmets from their heads.

"Well, it's reallah been some rahde, Rem," said Rogue, a hint of a smile crossing her lips, but the spark of happiness glowing in her eyes.

"Any time y' want one, jus' ask," replied Remy, turning to her with a smirk.

"Ah had a feelin' yah'd say that," said Rogue, a true smile lighting up her face.

"We'd better get in b'fo' we late for the DR. Y' know how de Wolverine is," commented Remy.

"Yeah," replied Rogue, as the pair dismounted, put away their helmets and headed inside the mansion. They stalked through the main entrance hall, ignoring what a commotion their dramatic fashionably late entrance was making as the majority of the Institute was now heading down to the Danger Room for the session from the elevator hidden in the fireplace. Some were looking at them questioningly, curious as to what had gone on between them…well, John, Kitty, Kurt and Piotr anyway.

Rogue and Remy walked passed them, heading up the stairs as an A-List celebrity Golden Couple ignores a horde of Paparazzi. They trotted up the grand stair case to head to their rooms to drop off their wet jackets and backpacks as well as change into dry sweats before heading to the locker rooms to change into their uniforms for the upcoming session.

Meanwhile, Kitty and Piotr were huddled in a corner, whispering amongst themselves, "So when do you think they'll just admit they like each other?" asked Kitty with a humored grin.

"At zhe rate zhis is going, I'd give or take twenty years," commented Piotr wryly, earning a laugh from Kitty.

"I wonder why they're both wet…?" thought Kitty.

"Vell, de answers will vary and both vill deny anyzhing and everyzhing," said Piotr with a smile.

"They have got to be _the_ most stubborn people around," said Kitty.

"Da, and unfortunately, zhat's not changing any time soon," thought Piotr.

"No kidding. A plan of action is needed to be taken if we're to change the situation," decided Kitty.

"I suppose ve could gazher John, Kurt and Remy's family to help us," added Piotr.

"Yeah, that would be perfect, but first, we'll need to iron out the kinks to this mission and the mansion isn't exactly an ideal place to do that," mused Kitty.

"Nyet, too many eyes and ears zhat vould eavesdrop and find out about zhis before we have a chance to put zhe plan into action," agreed Piotr.

Silence passed for a few moments before Kitty broke it, "I have no clue where we could go to discuss this in the middle of winter, in the evening, without people getting suspicious."

"Uh…vell…uh…" stuttered Piotr, in front of the girl he was rapidly getting a crush on. He took a few deep breaths and hoped to whatever god out there in the world that the power of Valentine's Day was on his side.

"Zhere's zhis one place in Vestcheszher, zhe 'Ethereal Dragon Art Gallery.' It's holding an exhibition on 21st century art and artists tomorrow. Zhe main piece is very much of a riddle. It's a computer sitting in zhe middle of zhis vast blank room, vith zhis vindow zhat you can look into and zee the outside vorld. It reminds me loneliness and such…but to get zhe real meaning, the artist hid a message in the computer," started Piotr.

"And it'd be an excellent excuse to get out of the mansion," exclaimed Kitty.

"Exactly, and it's a safe way for you to practice your hacking skills and help me gain a few bonus arts for class, since the first person to decrypt it gets a prize from our professor," said Piotr.

Kitty blushed, "Hey, just because I hacked into that US military nuclear weapons site that was restricted and encrypted and accidentally blacked out the mansion for 48 hours doesn't mean that everyone should keep reminding me of it!" said Kitty indignantly, causing Piotr to laugh heartily.

"So it's a date, as zhey say," said Piotr. Nope, he hadn't just asked Kitty Pryde out, they were just going on a casual meeting as two friends.

"Yeah," said Kitty with a blush, "It's a date." She tried not to think of this meeting as Piotr asking her out on a real date. No, she was just going with the handsome Russian to an Art gallery to help him get a few bonus marks, enjoy some cool art and plan out some form of attack for the Remy-Rogue front."

It just seemed that their love lives were getting more complicated all the time…

"You know, I never figured you were one for modern art," said Kitty.

"Vell, to be a relevant artist you have to be aware of zhe zhings around you and one of the ways to do zhat is to zee vhat ozher artists are doing. It's always good inspiration," commented Piotr, "Just because I love the traditional ways of art, doesn't mean I don't love the more modern pieces of greats like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Matisse, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso, Da Vinci and Monet are all amazing, but I love all forms of art."

"Really? That's cool that you have such a wide range of love for Art," said Kitty.

"Vell, zhey do zay it's my passion in life," said Piotr with a wry grin, Kitty laughed.

"Vhen I'm lost and confused and haff no clue vhere to go vith my art, I see zheir pieces and zheir simplicity and it inspires me," explained Piotr.

"What's your favorite piece? I'm curious, what with all those artists in there," asked Kitty.

Piotr thought for a moment, "Zhat's hard, I really can't nail it down to one absolute piece."

"Top ten?" tried Kitty.

"Even harder, too many to group into zuch a small space," revealed Piotr.

"Well, give me something," said Kitty amused, "Which is a piece that means most to you?"

"Okay, vell there's one zhat really says a lot to me. One of my favorite pieces has got to be Marcel Duchamp's urinal," said Piotr.

Kitty gave him a blank stare, "What?" It was truly an unusual and unexpected response; she had expected something much grander…

"You know, Marcel Duchamp's urinal, vith it, he totally made people rethink vhat vas art," explained Piotr.

"How?" asked Kitty, not seeing it.

Piotr smiled and elaborated, "Vell, Duchamps, a Frenchman, basically, took some urinal, signed it R. Mutt and entered it in an art contest as a joke. And it changed zhe way people looked at art, because it showed us zhat anything can be art; zhat it's not just zhe fantastic, yet overdone landscape and a bunch of fruit. It's not stuffy; it's innovative and makes you zhink if it's good. It can be fun and truly is a reflection of zhe times. Zhat, and the message, zhat he thought zhere art was crap and should be peed on. And vell, I guess I strive to be zhat, because zhere would be no greater satisfaction zhan knowing you changed zhe way people thought about zhings, like Einstein and his theory of relativity."

"That's really an interesting take on things. I really think you can do that, Piotr, change the way people think, because it's really easy to see that you're talented," said Kitty with a smile, flushing slightly in front of the handsome Russian artist.

"Thank you, Katya," said Piotr.

* * *

The senior members of the X-Men, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Remy, Piotr, John, Betsy and Warren were now preparing for a session, in full uniform, whilst the New Mutants with Evan, Alex and Bobby watched in the observation deck where Remy's family and friends also observed with the professor, Hank and Ororo, who were giving the Newbies pointers to learn from the senior members. Logan was running the simulation and barking out orders to the crowd. Scott and Jean were currently away at University in New York. Lucky bastards.

He had just finished his unique brand of roll call and was now moving to the task of hand, marching down his ranks like a general would his soldiers.

"Alright, people, this is a team mission!" growled Wolverine, barking out orders, "You are to destroy as many Sentinels as possible in the time allotted. It's an old fave, with a twist. There will be a time limit and another nice surprise." He finished his orders with an animalistic, wide toothed grin that seemed to be predatory and ominous. It would be bad.

"You begin in two minutes," he finished.

He turned and left without so much of a 'good luck' or 'good bye.' It was like he was resigning them to their deaths.

"So what do you think the 'surprise' is?" Kitty asked the group that was gathered in the center of the room.

"Ah'd rathah not think about that," said Rogue, rubbing her temples, her headache was starting up again. Remy shot her a worried glance, Kitty took notice.

"Ja, knowing Logan, it's going to be bad, very bad," added Kurt, his tail slouched and limp.

"Why we ever joined this group of miscreants complete with a wolfish dictator that runs extremely painful, exhausting and hazardous to my life, is beyond me," commented Warren with a sad smile.

"I believe it had something to do with saving the world, helping mutantkind, giving back, helping fellow mutants live day to day and kicking ass, luv," said Betsy with a smile.

"Wow, I used to be so righteous," commented Warren, "what happened?"

"Tha rigours and hell that is the X-Men," explained Rogue.

"Or more specifically, de pain o' one Wolverine," elaborated.

"Zhat too, not to mention, a horde of unruly, super powered teenagers," added Piotr.

"General insanity, I suppose," said Kurt.

"Ah, insanity," agreed Kitty.

"Wot's wrong with insanity?" asked John, narrowing his bright jade green eyes.

Everyone just gave him a look.

"The like, totally horrendous dry cleaning fees."

"Tha uttahly unsahtly carpet stains and mysterious disappearances of ya CDs."

"Zhe bubblegum in your fur."

"Zhe art you took four hours to start being absolutely mutilated."

"De constant shrieking an' screaming and bright lights shinin' int' y' eyes."

"The goo in your wings that take five ours to get out."

"The priceless artifacts being destroyed time and time again."

John let out a laugh and a contented sigh, "Oh how Oy LOVE insanity. Oyt's loyke moy babay…ooohhh…Dingoes at moy babay!"

Everyone gave him, not for the first nor the last time, an 'okaaay' stare.

"Riiiight," they said in unison.

"So, vhat do you zhink ve zhould do?" asked Kurt.

"How 'bout we stick close, cover each other's backs and beat those giants to there knickers?" said Betsy.

"The usual," confirmed Kitty.

Just then, an automated female voice interrupted their talks, "Sequence to commence in T-minus 20 seconds." The room began to shimmer iridescently, and the silver dome that was the danger room began to transform, smells, sights and sounds started to invade their senses with unparalleled reality.

They soon found themselves in downtown Manhattan, crushed by the bustle, grouped together in a bunch at a bustling city corner, where the people looked at them strangely, but walked on. One even asked them if they were Trekkies. The skyscrapers loomed imposing overhead, obscured reflections of the metropolitan city on the glossy windows. Buildings of historic limestone and marble merged with the modern metal and concrete. Dirty roads coated by spit out gum, slight garbage and blowing snow greeted their eyes. A light scent wafted into their noses, one a combination of the disgusting human waste, wasted garbage, savory foods, gaseous fumes and wet snow.

The cars whizzed by, wind shield wipers swiping back and forth, to allow the drivers clear vision from the impairment of snow. Steam wafted up from the sewers. Pedestrians speed walked cross intersections, showing the diversity in cultures, races, nationalities, age, social class, and life stories that was Manhattan. The noise of sloshing water, car engines, honks, many languages and urban bustle met their ears.

"So when do things get ugly?" asked Warren, taking in the picturesque busy city scene.

Overhead, a thunderous stomp was heard meeting metal with the asphalt. Soon, gargantuan metallic giants peeked into view through the gaps in the soaring buildings, showing the arsenal of weapons they wielded.

"Get ready, everyone," commanded Angel as he took to the skies with his powerful wings, covering aerial attacks. Psylocke pulled out her katana and an insurgence of purple energy ran along its length due to her psionic powers, ready to slice Sentinel. Gambit clutched several cards in one hand an extended metal Bo-staff in the other, prepared to let the charged cards soar. Colossus metaled up to his impenetrable form, standing by to pummel the enemy with his large fists. Pyro emitted flames from his flamethrower, geared up to mold them to attack the massive robots. Rogue, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler took up battle stances, prepared to meet their foes head on.

The overgrown robots inched closer into view. Manhattan citizens stopped and stared, pointing fingers in awe at the science fiction machines or booked it in terror. Panic and chaos had overtaken the city folk. People would scatter as a barrage of artillery was fired from inside the loaded weapons, screaming in terror. Glass was shattered, buildings and cars dented with bullets, car alarms sounded like yappy little dogs, screams of shocked men and women echoed in ear splitting decibels as they ran in for shelter from the foray.

"So, how exactly do we disable that?" asked Kitty, eyeing the Sentinels with unease.

Rogue eyed the petite girl with interest; a malicious smile crossing her features, addressing the metal man, "How 'bout a flying Shadowcat?" Revenge was sweet.

Piotr broke into a wide grin.

Kitty's eyes widened in horror, "WHAT!" she shouted.

Before the girl could ascertain what was happening, Piotr grabbed her and using his super strength flung the Shadowcat at the line of Sentinels. She flew a good 20 meters before she was about to hit a Sentinel. Holding her breath, eyes wide with fear, Shadowcat braced herself with her arms, closed her eyes and phased, crossing into intangibility and shooting through the queue of angry giants like a bullet. A burst of sparks exploded from the chests of each Sentinel she darted through and they shorted off line in a domino formation. In a span of a few seconds, Shadowcat had single-handedly taken down 15 giants of metal and destruction.

After phasing through the last Sentinel, Shadowcat began to lose momentum and began to fall to the asphalt. Taking a deep breath and momentarily becoming tangible again, she took a quick breath and once again went into intangibility to phase herself through the road. There, in between the solid objects, she slowed her decent and phased herself back up onto the surface. Reemerging, she regarded her team with a look of vengeance.

"ROGUE!" she shrieked, "THAT WAS HIGHLY UNECESSARY!"

Kurt shrugged, and smiled at Rogue, "Good plan, mein Schwester."

"Ah know," answered Rogue wryly.

"Damn, remind m' not t' get on y' bad side, Chere," commented Remy, wincing.

"Yah're already on mah bad side, Cajun," revealed Rogue.

"What it take t' get on y' good side?" asked the Cajun with a suggestive smirk, a gleam in his glowing red eyes.

"Dah and rid us of your gnawing presence on Earth," returned Rogue.

"We all know y' don' mean it, Chere," rebutted the Cajun with confidence.

"We all know Ah DO mean it, Swamp Rat!" exclaimed Rogue, her eyes narrowing, slightly, a frustrated pout shaping her full lips.

Kitty fumed…HELLO! She was just thrown through FIFTEEN SENTINELS! Oh…there would be retribution.

"Here thay go again…" said John, eyeing them with an interest, "Oy nevah thought Petey had it in him…"

"'Ey, lovebirds, give it a rest and stop with tha' flirtin' again, there's more o' them coming!" instructed Betsy.

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!" both Southerners rebutted in unison before looking at each other indignantly.

Everyone sighed and groaned, rolling their eyes.

An automated voice made them concentrate on the battle once more, "Mutants, surrender now or prepare to be terminated." Hundreds of Sentinels, as far as the eye could see stormed the streets as the people fled.

"Guess we choose terminated," muttered Gambit, tossing his cards at the foot of the lead Sentinel, blowing off several sheets of metal and causing the robot to collapse, as its leg was blown clear off. Live wires showered sparks onto the scene as Angel sent a bombardment of razor sharp features raining into the main computing unit in the head of the Sentinel from the skies, causing an audible depowered hum to be heard as it was rendered useless. The lights dimmed before it finally went out.

"Use it for cover," instructed Betsy as a new onslaught of laser fire began firing at them. Swiftly, the team converged and huddled in the shelter of the automaton.

"Well, dis chunk of scrap metal has mo' uses than as a shield. Colossus, would y' like t' take de honor?" suggested Gambit.

"Vhy, of course," consented Colossus. The Russian climbed onto the fallen Sentinel, lying on its side, and grabbing its heavy arm, he pulled and broke it clean off. Colossus then proceeded to chuck the arm into the air, slinging it in the direction of another Sentinel's head and taking it clean off with the projectile, immobilizing another Sentinel as it no longer could function without the main computing unit in the head.

"Vhy does he get all zhe fun?" asked Kurt glumly.

"Oyf ya wanna go do somethin', do oyt!" encouraged John.

Nightcrawler nodded and ported away, leaving a purple cloud and the scent of brimstone. Reappearing on the head of a different Sentinel, touching part of the helmet portion of the Sentinel's head, he ported away again. Kurt reappeared a moment later in a cloud of purple smoke high above the Sentinel behind the one who was now missing a large, protective helmet. The helmet dropped right away and slammed into the head of the Sentinel below, slicing through the head and exposing dislocated wires, taking down yet another. John raised his flamethrower and sent a torrent of flame at the head of the exposed Sentinel, melting all its important hardware.

"Oy goyt one!" he announced, doing a celebratory jig.

"Riiight, luv," commented Betsy as Kurt reappeared.

"Time ta make like Wolverine and hack and slash, dicing everything into nice edible bits," she declared before bounding over the Sentinel used as cover and leaping to the asphalt, sprinting straight into a Sentinel, katana poised and ready for battle. Psylocke cut the foot clean off, making the Sentinel off balance, causing it to get off balance, teeter and fall. Before its head had touched the ground, the ninja had severed the head clear off with her sharp edged blade. She continued this method carving out a line off defeated and offline machines.

Warren gave his comrades as salute, "I take to the skies." He then proceeded to send a hail of ultra sharp features storming down to cut the ranks of the Sentinels like broken glass opening your flesh.

"How 'bout a distraction, chere?" requested Remy.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "Whah am Ah doing this?" Man, her headache was killing her and now she had to make a distraction? Well, being an X-Man is hardly ever glamorous…

"Because you love me and you know it," proclaimed the thief with a cocky smirk, but Rogue had already ran into the battlefield.

Running into the battle, Rogue waved her arms and taunted the robot, "Come here ya big hunk of metal!" The Sentinel locked onto her signature and chased after her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gambit signaling her to come his way on a car, parked on the side of the road. As soon as Rogue started to turn his way, he jumped off the car to hide himself from the Sentinel and began to charge up the car…giving the words 'Car Bomb' a whole new meaning.

The big bulky black Cadillac Escalade was glowing bright red and all set to detonate, when Rogue ran right next to it. Just when the Sentinel was close enough to the car and ready to grab her or shoot at her and what not, Remy dashed out from behind the car and jumped at her, pushing himself and Rogue out of harm's way. They were air borne for a few moments, in which Remy clutched Rogue close to his body, sheltering her from the flying debris and shrapnel that exploded off the Sentinel as Remy destroyed it using the blasting car. As they began descent, Remy flipped them around so that he was on the bottom to break the impact of the fall, sheltering her body with his. As they hit, the pair skidded to the asphalt for a few moments. Remy's hand cupped her head to protect it from any falling rubble.

Rogue couldn't help but smile at his gentle actions. He was just so sweet and caring sometimes. It was really nice to know that someone really cared about her. And then, once again, when she looked up into his handsome face, for the second time that day, she found herself entranced with those incredible smoldering ruby onyx eyes of his. Staring into them, the world just faded away. That throbbing headache of hers disappeared for a moment. His body felt strong, hard and so right beneath hers. His coppery auburn hair was all splayed and sexy about the ground and she just wanted to run her fingers through it. All that was there then was she and him. Gone was the Danger Room, the Sentinels, the Manhattan skyline, the battle, the X-Men…it was just her and Remy. She loved that.

Remy gazed back at her. That look on her face, one of curiosity, trust, uncertainty and innocence of him made his heart flutter a bit, not that he could tell that in himself. He was too wrapped up with her to take notice right now. She had completely relaxed onto his body and he loved the way it felt against his so perfectly. Some locks of her pure white bangs obscured her face and those stunning emerald eyes of hers that so enchanted him, like earlier that day. Reaching up with tender fingers, he brushed the locks off her pale face and behind her ear to rest there. Her auburn hair with the black streaks running through it draped past her shoulders and looked so angelic with those natural waves in it. He wished she'd leave it that way all the time. The world was nonexistent and it was just him and her, so he savored it. He was lost in a moment, in a special little world, with her. He loved that.

Rogue blushed slightly as he brushed the hair from her face. He was always doing that. It made her heart beat a little swifter that he would be so bold. Their faces were inches apart and just naturally, due to some magnetic force seem to pull closer. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that their heads were moving closer, bit by bit. He realized he wanted to kiss her in that moment and damn the consequences. He would too…he didn't care. Just once, he wanted to kiss her.

He was a sliver away from capturing her lips with his and she didn't dare move or back away. It was all she wanted. For that span of whoever knows how long, she'd forgotten all of her misgivings in life. Rogue wanted to taste his lips against hers for a single time. She threw all caution to the wind and just let it be.

Too soon the moment ended. The kiss was not to be.

Remy's head jerked back and his eyes widened as he noticed a cannon fired right at them. Seeing him distraught, Rogue turned her head and saw the cannon about to hit them, letting out a gasp of shock. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her and threw his weight to the right, rolling them down the road and out of danger's way.

Coming to a stop, he smirked, realizing he was on top.

"Dis again, Chere? You must really love ol' Remy, huh?" he said, smirking down at her foul expression.

"Get off before 'ol' Remy' is kneed where it really hurts," she threatened with a patented 'Death Glare of DOOM!' (Nod to Shira…now update ACOL and SWD!)

"Y're so violent, Chere," commented Remy, pretending to be deflated as he consented to her request and moved off her. He offered her a hand with a gentlemanly bow, which Rogue took, after rolling her eyes at his antics.

"Why do ya think Ah am?" questioned Rogue rhetorically.

"Don' suppose it has anyt'in t' do wit' PMS…but den, you'd always be PMSin' an' y're period only comes once a month…though wit' y' I wouldn't be surprised if..." he trailed off.

"Shut up befoh I decahde ta kick ya in tha balls," threatened Rogue with a cheery smile.

"Y're no fun, Chere," said Remy with a pout.

"Who says Ah'd wanna have fun, and especially with ya?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, hand on her hip.

"Oh, but y' _know_ y' wanna have _fun_ wit' m'," said Remy with an insufferable smirk, eyeing her up and down.

Rogue let out a frustrated groan, "Ah don't know whah Ah associate wit' ya." She crossed her arms at her chest.

Remy just smirked that heart melting smirk of his and wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her tight against his body, whispering huskily in her ear, "Y' know y' want me."

Rogue just elbowed him hard in the stomach after rolling her eyes and scoffing. Remy recoiled, bent over and clutched his side in pain, letting out a groan, before looking up at her with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Again, why y' always hittin' m', Chere?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Because ya deserve it, and someone's gotta keep ya in line," she rebutted.

"Den, please, _punish _m'," said Remy with a sexy grin and suggestive wink.

Rogue's face scrunched up in disgust, looking like she swallowed a lemon and shuddered, "That is BEYOND disturbing, Swamp Rat! Eww!"

Remy just laughed.

"Are ya laughin' at meh?" asked Rogue, with defensive body language, her eyes narrowed.

"Mebbe," said Remy with a warm smile. God, he loved moments like this with Rogue, moments where they just fooled around and joked. He knew she loved it too. It was just too fun to resist and it was always new and exciting. He loved all the witty comebacks that sprung out from her mouth. Their battle of words always elicited so much intensity and hilarity on both sides and it was just entertaining to both of them.

"Pfft," she uttered and turned on her heel, walking away from the Cajun thief, "Ah've got some Sentinels ta fry. Tell meh when ya ready ta grow up and join us, Rem."

"You're no fun, Chere," pouted Remy.

"Whatevah, we've got business, Cajun," reminded Rogue.

"Yeah, we do," he said softly, disappointed that the game was done for now.

Rogue began to trot towards a demolished Sentinel about a block away from the exploded one, that was mostly intact, except it was headless, one of Betsy's jobs.

"Get that plating off on the main body, Swamp Rat!" instructed Rogue as she leapt onto the chest of the fallen Sentinel.

Gambit did so by working a bit off his charging magic. With the plating gone, the inner belly of the robot was exposed, full of wiring, bolts, metal supports and motors, but that's not what interested Rogue, it was the rocket launchers, cannons laser guns and other heavy duty fire arms. The Goth plucked a few wires, crossed some and aimed a rocket launcher into the skull of the giant. Pressing a button, she fired a rocket, which hit its target dead on in a fiery explosion that earned her kudos from Pyro.

"Nice shot, Rogue," commented Remy appreciatively.

"Comes with bein' born and bred in tha South with a terrorist foster mother," she stated wryly.

She then took ship at the destroyed Sentinel using it to fire off shots at her opponents, turning their own weaponry against them. Gambit took off to blow up a few robots. Using his cards and other objects to charge, he detonated Sentinel after Sentinel, smiling recklessly at the noise of his favorite sound, boom. He sprinted down the streets, dodging gun fire with his agility, using his Bo-staff to propel him into the air when need be, all the while charges would go off from his cards and other objects. Remy did this all while laughing, completely at ease and equally amused, darting this way and that. He was a flurry of movement. It was simply dazzling and Rogue had to say that she loved watching him fight, it was entrancing the way he moved, so fast and swift. He was merely playing a game with the Sentinels. Meanwhile, Rogue used the abundance of artillery loaded into the bodies of the Sentinels to take their own out. It was very satisfying to use their own weaponry against them. (I feel like such a tease…lol)

The flames were out.

Sounds of Pyro's happy, slightly insane laughter, strange dialogue marred further with Australian slang and hoots of unadulterated joy reached their ears as he torched the Sentinels and melted their armor and circuitry with his flamethrowers. Constant streams of flames flew twenty feet into the air. Oh, how John loved seeing his beloved fire consume and devour the Sentinels into fireballs. He'd send monsters barreling down at the Sentinels in a fiery dance of red, orange and yellow. Dragons would swoop down on them, breathing fire, before encircling the gargantuan robots to squeeze the life out of them. Horses galloped into them, reared and bucked the huge automatons, kicking them down as ash. The pyromaniac boy simply burned the Sentinels into oblivion with his precious 'foyre'.

Shadowcat scurried around the room, phasing through as many Sentinels as she could, felling tons of them as their circuitry fried from her powers. She took a strange joy in taking them out before they had a chance to pinpoint her or ascertain what was happening to them. Even when they got a few shots off, they could never hurt her, not as long as she stayed intangible. Kitty was practically invincible as she rushed down the streets, jumping through the metal giants and watching as they sparked and fizzled out of power once she had run through them.

Nightcrawler teleported at such a speed it was impossible for the Sentinels to keep a lock on him. His favorite move of choice was getting the Sentinels to shoot each other to bits, while he teleported safely away when they both tried to get him at the same time. It was very amusing to the blue furred mutant. Nightcrawler's only indication of being where he was previously was the purple smoke and once he'd appeared, he'd port again, which confused the Sentinels to the extreme, causing many to fire randomly at each other and take each other out. He also enjoyed playing bombardier and dropping heavy objects on them, such as their helmets from high distances above and watching the helmet crush and slash through their main computing units in their heads.

Colossus was playing baseball. In his mirrored metallic form, he'd yank to completely dislodge the legs from underneath an unsuspecting Sentinel and as it fell down, used the leg like a bat to hit the head clean off, decapitating the Sentinels and rendering them powerless. He'd then sling the leg like a boomerang at the head of an incoming Sentinel to behead it as well to take it out. Colossus was literally putting a dent in the ranks of the Sentinels with his strong and powerful fists. Any form of weaponry and gunfire would just ricochet off his invulnerable metal body. He also favored running off tall buildings and smashing into Sentinels with his unbreakable form like a cannon, ripping through the metal and wiring of the Sentinels to make them useless.

Angel continued his aerial assault. He'd swoop down upon the Sentinels and send hundreds of razor sharp dart like feathers hurtling into the main computing units inside the Sentinels' heads, rendering them useless immediately. Using his impressive flying skills, he'd dodge attacks from the robots with incredible ease. He also enjoyed it immensely when they decided to challenge his flight abilities by flying up with their thrusters to overtake him and shoot him from the sky. Too bad, he was too fast for them and too good a flyer to be taken and defeated. Warren also loved making the Sentinels play chicken in the air. He'd wait until he saw two of the massive robots flying upon him in opposite directions. Then he'd hover, waiting until they were close enough and firing a shot each. Then, he'd quickly race away from the impending impact and watch smugly as they blew their heads off. It was effective and fun.

Psylocke was hacking and slashing her way through the Sentinels' ranks. Her blade cut through the metal and wires fluidly, smooth and graceful like a dancer. She took to beheading the metal creatures with her long katana with ease. Her blade was infused with her psionic powers. Sometimes she'd just use her psionic blades perturbing from her hands to take out the Sentinels. Using her katana, when under gunfire, she moved it swiftly to block all the bullets, or whatever the artillery was in an impressive display of swordplay to which she was a master. Her ninja skills kept her ahead of the game, constantly dodging the Sentinels' lethargic movements and getting the best of them with her speedy moves.

The X-Men were clearly slaughtering the Sentinels, whether individually or working in pairs or as a collective team. The sounds of battle and destruction boomed in the air. Adrenalin pumped from their veins, fuelling their bodies, making them every bit the warriors they had trained to be. Proving that the senior X-Men were the best was no easy task, but in their movement and skill it was apparent that they melded as a team, worked as one, with an undeniable chemistry. When one X-Man was about to be taken out, another would come in to distinguish the threat. No back was left uncovered. Most didn't give much thought to the fact that things were about to get a lot more interesting in this particular simulation, a lot more interesting. Although, one must decide which part was the most interesting to come.

Just when the X-Men had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with and got comfortable in the battle, all of the Sentinels' eyes began to flash mysteriously, speaking of a terrible omen, foreshadowing something negative to come about. The Sentinels began to hum and hiss, steam erupting from the cracks in the metal plating, in their torsos, legs and arms. With a loud unison whirr, levels of metal armor, plating, sheets and coating was opened and beneath them, concealed in special hidden compartments were about fifteen droids per Sentinel.

It was like something out of Star Wars, heck, with the look and design; there was no doubt that the person who designed those was inspired by the epic movie. Hell, it was every sci-fi junkie's dream. They had large, almost bulbous heads, long spindly limbs with larger shins and forearms. Their body resembled nothing more than a human ribcage, small and oblong shaped. Their hips were narrow and gaunt. The droids' feet were large and clunky, full of bulk as were their hands. They very close to human height, just a little taller than six feet. Each had a wide arsenal of weapons in their small bodies, filled with explosives, firearms and sharp knives. With an inhuman speed, strength and agility, they began to leap out from their compartments and advance full of menace on the X-Men, who eyed the robots with interest, fully anticipating and loving the challenge they presented to them.

Regrouping, the X-Men began to come together, all eight members in a tight circle, sizing up their opponents, eyeing them with contempt.

"X-Men, meet your surprise. They're called Sentries, designed by the one and only Beast. Enjoy," boomed the excited voice of their beloved drill instructor, Wolverine.

"Ja, you know ve vill, Logan!" exclaimed Kurt jovially with a wide grin, pointed canine teeth showing.

"Let's show it to these buggers and wipe the floor with them, luvs!" encouraged Betsy.

Immediately, the eight X-Men began to viciously attack the Sentries, while still pushing back the Sentinels from which they sprung. The battle evolved to a whole new level of intensity. It was faster, more elegant and graceful with lethal precision and beautiful grace. Fighting was an art and right now, they were the artists.

Rogue was in her element. Hand to hand combat had always been her strongest asset in battle and it was only accentuated in this new development. Pushing her head splitting headache to the side, she tried to focus solely on the fight and forget about the throbbing pain and the loud whispers of the psyches, trying to get their individual wills into fruition. The Sentries were inhuman in speed and agility, but Rogue far made up for it in her skill as a fighter. Armed to the teeth with weapons and other arms, they were no match for Rogue. She outmaneuvered the Sentinels and then dislocated various important joints in their bodies to take them out, before ruining their main computing units. Sometimes, she'd use their guns against them, proving that she was an accomplished shooter. Dodging the Sentries' attacks became second nature to her. The Southern belle may have had some more to learn in the area of fighting, but she could sure stand her own and take down enemies with simplicity and poise.

Up ahead, Remy was doing much of the same as before, dodging, dashing and darting around the Sentries like he had the Sentinels. In contrast, he'd use his Bo-staff to abolish the main computing units in the heads of the droids by giving them a sound whack. He also much enjoyed using his cards to detonate the robots from close range and using the exploding Sentry to take out several of its neighbors. Now, that was entertainment. Sometimes, he'd just charge an entire Sentry for the heck of it, just enjoying the bright glow before the kinetic energy became so much they exploded with a considerable force. He not only fond of using his mutant powers to demolish this new enemy, he was also partial to using his fighting ability to break the droids apart with his bare hands, twisting the joints out of place, or ripping the heads off. The Cajun thief even enjoyed using the Sentries as a bomb to destroy passing Sentinels. Gambit was a juggernaut of skill, he could utilize all aspects of his training from fighting to mutant power to gain the advantage and defeat the Sentries or any enemy.

Off to the side, Colossus was demolishing the Sentries by ramming his gigantic fists through them, quickly rendering them useless with his strength and invulnerability. He could take out several of the robots with a single punch, as the force would take out more than one at a time. The Russian would tear off their parts with his bare hands, toss the droids into the air like they were weightless, letting them fall to the ground, resulting in broken bits. He took pleasure in stomping on the Sentries and listening to the crunch of metal as it broke beneath his feet. Bullets and any other weapons they tried to harm him with simply left him undamaged. Piotr was simply superior to the Sentries.

Further ahead, Pyro was burning his way through the onslaught of Sentries with a look of utter content and satisfaction on his face at the sight of his beloved flames. The licked and burned the Sentries, penetrating their armor and melting it, until their main computing units were exposed and melted due to the extreme head. Intense flames of orange, red and yellow glowed and grew in size and strength, morphing to all sorts of mythical or courageously bold animals to take down the droids like easy prey. Lions pounced on the Sentries before they burst into fireballs and exploded. Whirling flames surrounded the robots and burned them to a crisp in sections. John didn't even have to get his hands dirty, but even when he did, he could easily break off important parts, but using his god given talents were SO much more amusing and affective. There was nothing cooler than melting metal and the flames as they devoured the Sentries greedily.

Nightcrawler was playing bombardier again. He took perverse joy in teleporting in to abduct an unsuspecting Sentry, disappearing and reappearing high above the battle to drop the robot to its death where it'd take out several of its comrades as well. Playing chicken with live ammo was fun too. Two Sentries would fire at him at the same time and as he teleported away, they'd shoot each other to smithereens. Being that they were small, Kurt could break off their joints and vital parts with his bare hands or even feet or tail. He was all over the battle disappearing and reappearing in a plume of purple smoke, a loud bampf and the scent of brimstone. Not only did he use his mutant powers to fight the droids, he also used his fighting skill which had improved considerably. The droids became discarded playthings ready to be annihilated, in his opinion.

Shadowcat, was doing what she did best, phasing through any solid Sentry she could. All she had to do was stay in her intangible form for as long as she could and get close enough to utilize her damaging abilities to machines. In this way, she dismantled many of the droids by simply running through them in her intangible state. She liked ripping their parts off and using her abilities to rearrange their parts inside the metal plating, making the robots unfunctionable. By punching an intangible fist through their main computing units, she could easily take out each robot. Since coming to the Institute, she had long since advanced her fighting aptitude and it was apparent in the confident way she handled herself in the battle. Kitty's powers simply gave her an undeniable edge in taking out the droids effortlessly.

Angel soared overhead, scouting the area with deadly precision with his increased eyesight due to his mutation. He loved the aerial view and the scope of the entire battle stretched out before him, playing out for him to see. It was like being a god. And like a god, he loved using some 'dous ex machina', divine intervention. Swooping down with an audible whoosh at high speeds, carried by the rushing wind, Warren fired hundreds of sharp, cutting feathers from his wings, which penetrated the metal of the Sentries with loud slitting noises. They cut through the metal razor sharp like bullets traveling through and through, permanently setting the robots offline. The winged mutant also flew down above the heads of the Sentries, and then picked several up into the air at once, before dropping them from great heights to their deaths, taking out their friends at the same time. Not only could he use his flight abilities to destroy the Sentries, he could also destroy them using his fighting expertise learned over the years. He had to admit, the destruction of those creatures sure was satisfying.

Psylocke was on the warpath. If they weren't robots, the ground would be coated with more blood than 'Kill Bill'. She slashed her way through the Sentinels, chopping off their heads or severing their torsos from the rest of their bodies in long diagonal slashes with either or katana or psionic blades, whichever was most effective at the time. The parts of the Sentries lay in dense piles all about her, cut in various angles, completely useless. Betsy moved with stealth, cunning and flexibility, fluid and graceful like water flowing casually from a relaxed waterfall. Her moves were all deadly and vicious and it was a dangerous kind of tranquil beauty, just like she was herself. She could also easily dismantle the throngs of Sentries with her bare fists, easily pummeling them with her fighting talent, breaking their necks instantly or ripping off necessary parts to run the machines. She made fighting an art. It was easy for her and came to her naturally through he studies and she enjoyed any chance to show it off. The Danger Room was truly the only place which properly challenged her.

Soon, the group found them converged into a tight nit group, fending off the Sentinels with their fighting proficiency. It was here that their prowess as a unit shoed. They fought as one and were able to easily drive back the Sentinels and the Sentries combined, decreasing their numbers significantly. Ange sent out a barrage of feathers as Pyro hurled a torrent of flame and Gambit launch a brace of charged playing cards, all at once decimating the ranks of the Sentinels and Sentries further away. Psylocke, Rogue, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus took on the enemy at close range with their fighting skills. Shadowcat phased through her opponents with her punches, as well as giving her comrades when she could intangibility to avoid injury. Kurt played chicken with the robots and port those in need to safety, while Rogue, Psylocke and Colossus used their skill, sword and strength respectively to wipe out as many as they could. Working in these groups, they began to decimate their enemy. They were efficient in their work and could see the oncoming victory.

That was when their luck would change.

She didn't know why, but Rogue began to feel an onslaught of weariness, exhaustion and tiredness take her body. Her movements began to feel sluggish and slow, her strength in her blows leaving her. It was inexplicable and out of the ordinary. She had never felt this way in a battle before. However, it wasn't her body that felt the weakness, it was her mind and that was when she knew, knew that it was her mind causing this sudden onset of frailty. The moment she realized this, they began to crescendo in volume in her mind. The voices shrieked, wailed and screeched in a roar that was deafening. The storm and chaos only brewed and strengthened. She was a monster, the eater of souls, the taker of lives. No one loved her, no one cared about her. She was insignificant. How dare she keep them here all locked up and caged? The psyches began to impede their will on her, encouraging her to do what they wanted, but it was difficult and confusing. How could she concede to the wishes of a hundred different peoples at once? She couldn't hear herself think anymore. She was lost in the crushing sea, battering her body and she was trapped.

Rogue began to stumble in the battle. She was no longer getting any punches in. The Sentries began to get their blows into her body. Her body shuddered and shock with the impact, but she was no longer there. Her eyes were blank, vacant and expressionless. No shouts of pain came from her mouth. She was gone.

"Rogue!" shouted Remy, immediately running towards her, wading his way through the robots. In frustration from all the robotic bodies, he set a charge to his cards and tossed them into the crowd, instantly dispersing their numbers. Sprinting to her side, he called to her.

"Rogue, talk t' m'. What's goin' on, Chere?" But he got no response. She was gone.

She was teetering on her feet. And then, she fell, as if all her strings had been cut, her link to the world gone and all that was left was her shell. He caught her before she could hit the hard black asphalt. He was worried now. There was no expression to her face, only dead green eyes, reflecting the battle scene surrounding her. Those eyes haunted and chilled him to the soul, a moment ago those eyes were bright with life, hope and joy, sadness and anguish were now extinguished. She was gone.

Gambit charged some more of his cards and tossed them, "C'mon, chere, snap out of it. Y' scarin' m'. Please, can y' hear me'? Please, chere! Stop it! Rogue, come back!" he tried to shake her but it was no use and the Sentries and the Sentinels from which they sprung forth, began to surround him. He was a sitting target. She was gone.

With a burst of energy, he fought them off. He couldn't let her be harmed, no matter what. He couldn't let them hurt her because she didn't deserve it. He had never felt so goddamned helpless in his entire twenty years of life as he had in this one moment. He had never wanted so badly, so completely desperately to help someone. Yet, he had nothing to gain from it if he helped, just a smile and a thank you and it was all he wanted from her. He had never been so selfless or wanted to. What was it about her? He shouted at her again, but he got no response. No matter how much his lips would move, no response would come from her. He felt like he was doing CPR on a victim that had been under water with no air for too long. It was too long. She was gone.

The Sentries began to attack them, but he couldn't let his precious cargo fall. So he did all he could, he carried her in his arms, balancing her body while defending himself and her. He could see the faces of her friends around her, concerned and worried. He didn't know how he was managing to pull the fight off. His mind was not in it, it was far gone to her. Yet he was winning the battle, out of desperation. It was all he could do. Cards exploded as they left his deft hands. His staff knocked away any enemy that neared them and his teammates tried to dissuade as many robots as they could from his way, but still all he could think about was her. What was going on? She was gone.

Her mind was pandemonium. The wind howled with the amalgamation of a million voices made unrecognizable. Their strange bodies began to batter and bruise her. Why wasn't she doing what she wanted them to? She tried to run, but she couldn't. There were too many. She'd be crushed in the bodies. They grabbed hold of her, clawed at her, their iron grips, embedding into her delicate flesh, opening wounds, letting the blood seep from her body. She shouted at them to let go, to get away, but they wouldn't listen. They all wanted control. They all wanted to live. They all wanted to deny her that which was her life, her choices and her will. She could not fight anymore, not when they were consuming her entire being, unopposed. She was gone.

She had tried, she really did. The wall she tried to build failed. The fight she tried to win, she lost. The mind she tried to control was theirs. There was no choice. She was theirs. She was gone.

On the outside, where Remy clutched her body close to his, protecting her with his life, her body suddenly shuddered. Remy was infinitely relieved. The life returned to her eyes. She'd be okay, right?...but her eyes, they were wrong. They were strange. It wasn't hers. They were dark, too dark, and nothing but revenge, spite, vengefulness, petty and hate laid in them. She regarded him with the coldest stare he had ever borne witness to in his life. It was hate, it was contempt, it was utter ill will. With an inhuman strength, she pushed herself from him, the force sending him back. Before, he could fall to the ground, claws erupted from her fists and ripped themselves through the flesh of his torso, spilling blood. He gasped with pain. It was almost overbearing, but nothing could be as overbearing as seeing the look on her face when she awoke from whatever spell had shrouded her. Clutching his side, he fell back. A twisted smile crossed her face, marring it until it was unrecognizable.

* * *

"FUCK!" cursed the Wolverine, in the Control Room, "What the hell? Dammit. Looks like we've got another possession, Chuck!"

"That we do," observed Xavier as he took in the bedlam before him, "Ororo, get them out, please," he instructed.

Ororo conceded and ushered the New Mutants and Remy's family out of the room immediately. The faces in the room turned from one of awe at the power of the X-Men to one of fear, worry and distress as well as a healthy shot of shock. With the destruction being caused by Rogue now, living up to her name, the Control Room could very well be the next striking zone.

"Shit! Right now, that sim is all that's keeping her from tearing apart anyone else," commented Wolverine, observing as Rogue obliterated all that stood in her way with her new found powers.

"Beast, prepare to abort simulation when I give you a command from my telepathy!" called Xavier.

"Right," responded the blue furred mutant doctor.

Wolverine went to a corner of the room, about to help the situation in the Danger Room, where the elevator was that led to the Danger Room for emergencies like this. A long steel beam of great strength and durability would shoot out from the Control Room above the Danger Room to the floor of the room below it and transport an elevator down with it. He hit a green button and immediately entered the appropriate codes to get the emergency elevator to work. It opened with a hiss.

"You coming, Chuck?" he asked as he stepped into the elevator.

"Yes," responded Xavier as he wheeled in his chair.

The doors hissed closed around the metallic elevator, a metal lined cube with a control panel by the closing mirrored doors. Immediately, they descended, quickly to the floor of the room.

* * *

Beams shot from her eyes, a furious crimson, smashing through the metal of the Sentries and the Sentinels and crashing into their intended target, the Angel in the sky. His wings were clipped instantly and he fell to the ground. A wave of her small hands and the Russian giant flew into the air, his metal form reverting against his will, as he plummeted to the ground with an audible thud, unconsciousness stealing him away, immediately. Ice formed at her hands and froze the pack of gasoline at Pyro's back. The boy froze in fear as he realized what she had done, a look of shock crossing his face as his body froze into a block of ice from ground up.

"OH, BLOODY HELL!" screamed Psylocke, "This is just great!"

"Kurt, get Gambit!" instructed Kitty as she made her way through the masses to Psylocke.

Kurt did as he was told, porting himself and the Cajun to the vicinity of the purple haired ninja and the native Chicagoan.

"You can stand Gambit?" asked Psylocke as she eyed Rogue, cautiously, watching as she demolished the robots in the room, a welcome distraction for their plight as of now.

"Yes," said Gambit as he winced slightly and stretched to his full height, pulling the pain to the back of his mind to concentrate on the task at hand. He refused the arm that Kitty offered him outright. She shot him a worried look.

"Vell, ve got help coming soon," said Kurt as he noticed the elevator descending into the floor of the Danger Room.

"Maybe, but we're gonna have to distract the bird, luvs," said Psylocke.

"Right," started Kitty, a determined look, crossing her features, "Listen, let me and Kurt go up to her and try to talk to her. Maybe we'll get somewhere," she suggested.

Kurt nodded in agreement.

"Alright," said Psylocke, knowing they really had no choices left, lest they let Rogue hurt herself and others more.

Clutching Kurt's had, Kitty disappeared with him in a puff of purple smoke, a scent of brimstone and a bampf.

Up in the air, Rogue was hovering using Jean Grey's abilities to float in the air and do her wrath, sparkling in the metallic form of Colossus. Many of the Sentinels fell dead before her, descending to the earth disgraced giants, never to walk boldly again. Suddenly, in a plume of purple smoke, appeared Kurt and Kitty, a few feet above Rogue. Startling the possessed mutant, they fell onto of her, grasping onto her shoulders and torso, appealing to the real her crushed beneath the flood of psyches, begging for her to fight, to pull through, trying their best to show that they cared about her.

"Rogue, please, fight them. You CAN do it. You're stronger than this, you're stronger than them. We know you can do this. Come back to us. We care about you. Please Rogue!" cried Kitty, desperately, looking into the unrecognizable cruel eyes of her best friend. Kitty searched her eyes, looking for some semblance of her best friend, but found none, to her eternal dismay.

"She is here no more. You do not care. Your words are meaningless and petty. She belongs to us now. You mean nothing and she is nothing," seethed Rogue in a strange amalgamation of the many voices crowding her mind.

"No Rogue, please, fight, you mean something to us. You're someone to us, special. We need you. You're my best friend. We all care about you. Don't listen to them," pleaded Kitty. The power of the Storm began to build. Wind tossed and wailed as rain cascaded to the ground like needles piercing an open heart and lighting bolts zoomed and whizzed around the room, cracking ominously. Rogue began to struggle to push them off, but they grabbed on with their iron grips. The storm would not tire their efforts. Remy and Betsy began to scuttle to safety to take cover, lest they be blown away and hurt even more as the room began to shimmer and change, reverting to its original form.

"Don't waste your breath with your hollow words, filled with deceit. You lie. You betray her. She has no friends. Just enemies that hurt her, over and over, but she is safe now. She is ours and she's never coming back," Rogue's hateful words were cruelly whispered full of venom and malice. They could hear parts of Rogue's voice coming through and it hurt them more than it hurt her on some levels. Why did it always have to be this way?

"Nein, Schwester, Katzhen tells zhe truth! Ve care about you. Ve love you. You're mein Schwester. Don't listen to zhem. Zhey mean nozhing. Ve are the vones zhat matter. Ve are the ones who care, not zhem. Please Rogue, fight, for me!" implored Kurt, his eyes showing his brokenness, the sadness clouding his heart at the sight of his sister like this.

"Stop THIS! STOP LYING TO ME!" shouted the strange unison of Rogue's combined voices with the psyches.

"Ve are not lying. Ve speak zhe truth. Zhey lie. Zhey deceive you. Zhey hurt you. Zhey are the ones zhat alvays do zhis to you. Listen me, to us to your heart Rogue. Listen to vhat it says. You know zhey lie! Ve are zhe vones zhat care about you. Ve are zhey vones zhat hurt to see you in so much pain. You're hurting us now, Rogue. Please, if you can hear me, fight zhem. Fight zhem for us. Fight zhem for life, for hope and for all zhat you believe in, mein Schwester, fight. I beg of you, please!" shouted Kurt, desperation and pleading in his tone. He could barely hang on as the gale winds blew him and Kitty practically horizontal, but they could not give up or let go.

A change in the winds allowed Kitty and Kurt to momentarily gain control of the situation and wrap their legs around Rogue to cling on. Her eyes began to flash their brilliant true emerald shade! Her face began to contort with pain and anguish while the storm raged around them, whipping their hair in all directions. Kurt said a silent prayer and preyed that she should come back to them.

"Yes, Rogue, you can do this! You're winning!" encouraged Kitty.

Her eyes closed. At last, someone did win as Rogue let out a harrowing, tormented earsplitting scream that was terrible to hear.

Opening them, the eyes that were radiant emeralds were revealed to be nothing but darkness full of hate, violence and menace.

A look of fear and pain crossed Kitty and Kurt's faces. It smiled at them, mocking and full of evil intent. Shaking It's gloves off It's pale hands, It reached out and pressed a hand at an inhuman speed to Kitty and Kurt's cheeks.

Three voices rang through the air, all speaking of misery and torturous pain.

Kitty and Kurt plummeted from high above the Danger Room, hitting the floor in a helpless heap, unconscious. Up above, the figure that was Rogue still screamed in agony, hands clutching her head as her body shuddered violently. In a puff of violet smoke, a loud bampf and the scent of brimstone, she disappeared, only to reappear on the ground, clutching her head in pain, as her body writhing and shaking with the constant throb and ache of pain, setting her nerve endings on fire.

As of now, Wolverine and Professor X were on the floor of the Danger Room, joining Betsy and Remy who sought the refuge of a fallen Sentinel which had disappeared to be replaced with a thick metal barrier, high and black, shiny and strong.

"Betsy," addressed the professor, "When I say, we go to Rogue and used our combined strengths to break through her mental barriers and push back the psyches, alright?"

Betsy gave him a curt nod of understanding, a look of determination crossing her features.

"NOW!" yelled the professor, wheeling his mechanized wheelchair out of their protective wall, fingers to his temples as he barged into the frenzied mind of Rogue. Betsy followed suit, the fingers of one hand, splayed about her temples another hand outstretched as she projected herself violently into Rogue's mind, meeting the professor immediately inside her problematic mind.

Inside, a swarm of psyches were circled around something; Rogue no doubt, a storm brewed inside her mind, just as in the outside world. They were the ghostly apparitions of the people they represented in reality. All of them huddled over her, body language threatening, violent and angry, surrounding her, closing her off, with no way out. This place looked a grave yard, the skies charcoal grey and growing darker by the second, a misty fog thickly covering the strange world, the trees were dead and dark, skeletons of what they once were and tombstones bore the names of all the psyches. The tall thick brick walls that had once enclosed them were smashed and wrecked, fallen bricks laying in a mess of angles and positions, both piled and splayed about, leaving her mind unprotected and open for their attack.

"Use psychic energy to attack them, and then use chains to bind them and pull them back to their graves," instructed Xavier.

"Right," said Psylocke as she and the professor sent out their onslaught of psychic energy into the hoard of distraught, vicious and fierce psyches.

They fell many of them, sending them to their knees, howling in pain, clutching their heads. Flinging their hands forward, they launched binding chains around them that coiled up the psyches securely, binding them. Then, they sent them back to the graves from whence they came, slamming their coffins shut, wrapping chains around those too, before slamming the full coffins to the hollowed earth, pouring in strong, thick concrete to seal them away before covering the tops with earth. They wailed and shrieked the whole time this happened. Still, they tried to whisper in their graves, but the psychics silenced them. On and on they went, it seemed a never ending task and the psyches only seemed to amass more.

Slowly, they began to retreat from their prey and descend onto Professor Xavier and Psylocke, harmful deeds filling their minds. Surrounding them, they tried to scratch, bash, punch, kick and hit them, but it was no use. They simply built up barriers or fought back with psionic blades or psychic probes that seemed to scathe them instantly. But there were too many, more than any one person can handle realistically. They bore down on Psylocke, the weaker of the two telepaths. Her body and mind strained, trying anxiously to defend herself in any way possible, but it was no use. At last, they broke her barrier and launched themselves at her. Screaming in agony, she was sharply flung out of Rogue's mind, causing great mental distress to her.

In the Danger Room, Psylocke's body fell to the floor all of a sudden and the professor's staggered back, slightly, now facing the full onslaught and the fury of the psyches on his own.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Cajun," said the Wolverine, almost grimly.

Remy nodded defiantly.

"We need ter reach her," explained the Wolverine, "Try to help Chuck along."

"Alright," agreed Gambit and without a word, the two men sprinted out from the barrier, battle cries leaving their lips, dashing past the struggling telepath and the fallen ninja, straight for the girl at the center of it all, in the eye of the storm.

She had started to float in the air, slowly spinning, hands outstretched at her sides, black eyes open and emotionless, vacant and empty as the storm waged on around her. Taking a running leap, both men pounced on the hovering girl and dragged (PEOPLE IT'S DRAGGED, NOT DRUG!) her to the floor of the Danger Room.

They kept her body still and steady on the floor with their strong arms and will, hoping to reach the part of her that still existed amidst the turmoil.

"Rogue, if you can hear me, fight them. I know you can. I believe in you. You don't take shit. You never do, and especially not from a bunch of shitheads trying to run your life. You're stronger than them and you know it, so fight them. You're a fighter, Stripes. I know that, you know that. You have something here Rogue, us, and we care about you, more than you know," Wolverine looked at Gambit strangely, whose face was focused entirely on hers, extreme worry and some fear on his face.

She let out an almost animalistic shout, "NO!" and with surprising speed, clutched the Wolverine's face before he could react. Logan groaned and rolled off her unconscious.

Dammit, her hands were not secure.

"Merde!" swore Remy as he forced her arms to her side, tightly, so she couldn't move them, as the Wolverine lay spread eagled on the floor.

"Jus' you an' m', huh, Chere?" started Remy, his eyes completely concentrated on hers for any sign of her reemergence.

Her face was twisted and contorted, still facing the barrage within.

"Please, fight it, chere! I know you can. You're stronger than anyone I've ever known. I see you break and fall, but you never let anyone see it, because you don't want to hurt them. You consider others always before yourself, you're completely selfless. I admire that. So many people take advantage of others, manipulate them and use them, betraying them, but you know that, because you know me. You know what it's like. It's happened to you. You could be so cold and angry, but you're not. You're so kind, caring and generous, full of hope and dreams. Don't let them destroy your hopes, because it's beautiful and worth it. Just believe in yourself, like I believe in you. You have a future and people who care about you. I care about you. Your life is worth living. Come back and I promise to make it so you don't have to feel like this all the time. I understand what it's like to feel so alone, so hurt and numb. I want to help you. We can face it together, Rogue. So come back to me, Chere, please," he whispered softly and honestly, his face inches from hers, the truth, sadness, pleading and desperation all in his gorgeous ebony garnet eyes.

Something stirred in her heart and snapped inside her at that moment at his confession. Her eyes drooped closed and her body relaxed, completely. He watched as she slowly seemed to reanimate as the professor began to work easier. She had awoken from her fear and stupor to help him fend off the demons of her mind, chaining them, binding them to their graves, helping him rebuild the walls that fenced them in from her, apart.

Then, the professor's body slumped in his chair as his eyes popped open, a small smile crossing his face, triumphant, but exhausted.

And those luminous emeralds that he longed to see appeared again, warming his heart, making him smile, relief flooding his exhausted body, but as soon as they focused, his smile vanished. In her eyes, he saw shock, terror, shame, pain and torment. She had realized what she had done to those she cared most about, to him. She was a terrible monster.

A frown crossed his handsome features, "Are you alright, Chere?"

She regarded him fearfully, moving as if stung. She pushed him off her body, roughly, "G-GET AWAY FROM MEH!" she screamed, pained and scared like a wild animal. Tears erupted from her eyes and she bolted.

"Rogue, come back!" he shouted, about to go after her, confront her, tell her that everything would be okay, but the first step he took, an unbearable pain shot up his side, causing him to fall crumpled to the floor, which was all she needed to make her escape, eyes blurred by the heavy tears, weighing hard on her fragile heart. He cursed his injury. Why now was it that this happened and his body failed? Why is it when she needed him the most was he unable to provide her with that which she needed, the help she required?

The professor called to her as she pressed the buttons to open the door of the Danger Room, but he could not stop her, nor slow her, as she looked back at the scene pained and fearful, then dashing away, just a blur of motion.

* * *

And it ends…not another update for a month! HAH! EVIL LAUGH! Okay…so not really…scroll down…I'm not that evil. I had the last part planned out since the beginning of the fic in Feb. and have been dying to share it with you all.

* * *

The fine black thread slid through his warm flesh, red and open, following a slender silver needle. Going in and out, in and out, the fine black thread pulled and closed the dark, morbid, open wound on the flesh of his abdomen to the left of his belly button. Seventeen stitches to close a long diagonal gash. He would've looked gorgeous; any woman would've paid to be in that curtained off room right now. He was shirtless and only in his boxers, his perfectly shaped body shown off in all its glory. It would've been a perfect sight had it not been for his obvious scowl and depressed face, blatantly not from the pain of the procedure.

His thoughts were lost and he was completely numb to it all. Remy couldn't feel the pain of the sharp needle splicing his flesh and drawing thread behind it, at this moment and it had nothing to do with the aesthesia and painkillers, because those don't really help that much. His thoughts were not on the stitches being sewn, but on a girl, sad, lonely and depressed, probably crying looked up in her room. He felt the urge to go and dry her tears. He longed to make her happy.

He was not in the world he belonged in right now, sitting on a hospital bed, with unhooked monitors and medical equipment surrounding him. The curtain was drawn for privacy, the thin sheet allowing him to see the shadows and light from the large room outside it. He saw none of it though, not even the doctor, large, blue and furred, in an oversized lab coat stitching his wound closed. Remy felt so helpless, of all the times for his body to fail, it had to be then. Right then, when she needed him the most, he couldn't be there for her. God was truly laughing at him. And he needed the medical treatment. It was a deep and wide wound, after all, but he didn't feel it, not the pain. He hadn't felt the throbbing pain, since they stripped him of his uniform to give him stitches. He hadn't felt the doctor clean his wound with disinfectant or inject or inject the painkillers. Now, he was just numb.

That look of utter terror, self loathing and despair that crossed her features as she looked to him haunted his memory, recapping over and over in his mind. Those tears that fell broke his heart. Pain had clenched his heart, grabbed it and squeezed, it still did. The worse part was that he felt it too, all the emotions she had in that moment. All that uncertainty, torment, suffering, loneliness, fear and utter lack of hope he had felt from her stronger and more potent than ever before, taking him by surprise and making him suffer too. All he wished was for her to be happy, when all around her turned her to be unhappy, but he had failed. He had failed to make her happy. He had been hopeless as he watched her fall into misery. Not for the first time, he longed for circumstances to be different, but unfortunately, that's not how reality works. And boy, did it leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

The thread was neatly knotted and cut once Hank finished sewing the slash closed. "Just a bandage and some disinfectant and we're all set for you to go, my Cajun friend," said Hank brightly.

The thief just grunted unintelligibly to which Hank gave a long sigh. He hoped that things worked out for him and the Southern Scarlet. He worked swiftly, cleaning up the area for any new split blood, disinfecting it and pressing some soft gauze onto the stitches before taping up the sides neatly.

As Hank picked up the used equipment to be washed or discarded, he walked to the flap in the curtain to exit, "I'll send in your family to see you. They're quite anxious. Well, just your Tante Mattie. Henri said he knew you'd be fine and he needed to watch the twins and Mercy said she needed to watch Jacques, the twins and Henri."

"Hmm," muttered the Cajun, not one for talking. He mostly just blanked out what Hank was saying.

"Right," said Hank as he left.

Soon after a plump black women entered the small chamber.

"Remy, chile, y' give m' a scare! Are y' alright? Dr. McCoy said he gave y' SEVENTEEN stitches!" screeched Tante Mattie.

"Hmm," grunted Remy, eyes glued to the floor, unfocused.

SMACK! Tante Mattie's plump cocoa hand smacked her lost boy right upside the head, causing his longish hair to flip into the air.

"TANTE! DAT HURT!" shouted Remy, rubbing the sore smarting area, instantaneously, it was like he had been reanimated, the life restored to him.

"Pfft," said the elderly woman rolling her dark eyes.

Remy muttered something under his breath.

"Dat had better not be somet'in bad comin' from y' mouth, Remy Etienne LeBeau!" rebuked Tante Mattie, "I got plenty o' soap here t' wash y' dirty mouth!"

"Fine, fine. Jesus, Tante," said Remy raising his hands in a 'I meant no harm way.'

Tante just shook her head.

"So how it feel, Remy?" she asked looking at him strangely, tilting her head slightly, regarding him with an observing look, slightly concerned.

"Pretty good, I know it's seventeen stitches…but I didn't really feel de pain," said Remy.

"Dat's not what I mean, chile," she said with a warm, babying smile, knowing something he didn't.

Remy looked at her quizzically, confused, "Den I'm lost here."

The old woman let out a slight laugh, "How dies it feel, Remy, t' finally have a fille drivin' y' completely crazy, turnin' de tables on y', huh?"

"Huh?" he said dumbly.

Tante just smiled wider and uttered one word, "Rogue."

In all his years, Mathilda Baptiste was the only person to cause Remy LeBeau to blush crimson, but he still kept a stony straight face, revealing nothing, "I don't know what y're talkin' 'bout," he said evenly.

She chuckled, "Now don't lie t' me, chile. You know it and I know it, jus' a matter o' y' admitting it t' y'reself."

"I won't admit anyt'in' because dere's NOTHIN' t' admit!" exclaimed Remy exasperated, his face wild.

"Pfft," snorted Mattie, disbelievingly, "Don' tell m' I didn't tell y' when y' finally come t' an epiphany, chile."

"Riiiight," said Remy, rolling his eyes, "Y' goin' crazy."

"I shouldn't be de one questionin' m' sanity, boy," she said evenly, keenly amused.

"Ugh!" sighed Remy, "I'd rat'er not talk about dis."

"Well it's not like y' have a choice," explained Tante, "Lord Remy, half de mansion sees it. Are y' honestly SO blind?"

"For de sake of God, Tante, dere's not'in' between us. We're just very good friends," he said tightly.

"Well, it's been said dat y' stubborn and thick skulled, Remy," revealed Tante Mattie.

"Uh huh," said Remy unamused.

"She's a good girl, Remy, not like dose floozies y're usually wit'. I like her and y' really care about her," confessed Mattie.

"I know," whispered Remy softly, "She's absolutely amazing." His eyes faded out of focus slightly, almost too slight to notice, but she noticed them. Some sort of calm, tranquility and inner peace floated to him. She'd been around the boy too long not to notice that slight change in his demeanor.

Tante filed those lines deep into her mind for future knowledge.

"And not f'r someone like m'," he finished with finality.

Tante Mattie faded to silence, considering his words as he grabbed his clothes from the side of his bed that someone had bought from his locker. He dressed quickly and swiftly. He then walked to the break in the curtains, about to cross the threshold when Tante Mattie stopped him with her words, causing him to turn and face her.

"Where y' goin, Remy?" she questioned softly.

"T' dinner," he said evenly, revealing nothing, but they both knew in their hearts that he would go to her.

He stepped out and crossed into the medlab, stalking to the automatic set of sliding glass doors that were designed to block out bacteria and disease from transferring and into the outside world of the underground halls of the mansion, silver and metallic, edged with white, black and blue. (You can find a description of what the hall looks like from Chapter Three.)

* * *

The atmosphere of the dinner was tense and stiff. Nobody talked, there were dull whispers, but they were all too afraid to speak any louder than a dull roar. No one really looked into the eyes of the other person. The food was good as usual, but everyone just picked at their food, no one was really hungry.

Kitty and Kurt had awoken shortly after they were admitted into the medlab, as did Betsy, Warren, Piotr and John. They hadn't really suffered any serious injury just a few bruises and cuts and were no worse for wear, but they knew that Rogue suffered in her room somewhere and thus, they had tried to appeal to her from the barrier of the door, pleading with her to come out. No one blamed her, they said, they didn't care. It was alright. They cared about her. Please come out. It went in circles. They tried repeatedly, but she wouldn't come no matter what they tried. Not even Logan, the professor or Ororo could get her to come, or the double team of Kurt AND Kitty. She just remained in her room, refusing to bend like a mountain.

Currently, Kitty's seat between Piotr and Kurt was empty, she had gone up to persuade Rogue to come to dinner, but she had been met with silence to her begs and so in the end, she hung her head in defeat and came back down to dinner.

"No luck, Sheila?" said John; it was of a statement than a question.

"No luck," said Kitty dejectedly, taking to swirling her potatoes around again. Everyone who had given her a hopeful glance when she entered went back to picking at their food, pretending to eat.

"I'm sure she'll come down when she's ready, Kitty," said the Professor with a reassuring smile, but he didn't convince them one bit.

"It's just she's so sad and depressed! And I just don't know if she can pull through this time," admitted Kitty, a pout crossing her features, "She's gotten SO far in everything, these past months, and then this comes along and just pulls her ten steps back!" She looked like she was going to burst into tears, but Piotr grabbed her hand and gave it a supporting squeeze, using the action to lend her some strength and comfort.

Kurt hadn't taken a bite of his meal, the usual vacuum cleaner of everything food wasn't functioning today. His shoulders, ears and tail just dropped giving him the look of utter sadness. Hell, even his fur seemed to droop! It didn't help that he was blue either. It just spoke so much of the sadness of the situation. He was usually so happy and positive; it took a lot to get him depressed and not be the jokester.

Remy stood up in his chair. He had enough of this moping and heavy atmosphere. He regarded the professor with his stony poker face.

"May I be excused?" he asked, more demanding than requesting.

"Yes, Remy, you may," said the professor softly.

Remy gave him a curt nod, put down his utensils and napkin on the pristine white table cloth and stalked out of the burdensome room. Pushing open the large ornate carved wooden doors, he entered the foyer, (foi-yay!) shutting the door behind him. As the heavy doors shut, Kitty let out a long distracted sigh. It would be a long dinner.

* * *

_**Your life has been so hard  
It's dried up angels that can't keep guard  
I'm trying to reach your hand  
But I'm on fire  
I never planned to fade... away  
Stay with me  
Stop pretending when they say that you're nothing **_

Are you sad?  
Are you holding yourself?  
Are you locked in your room?  
You shouldn't be…

I'm drowning inside your head  
Help me to answer  
Help understand  
Why it's been so long since we talked like friends  
Please, forgive me,  
I'm just a man  
Whose made mistakes

Stop pretending when they say you're nothing

Are you sad?  
Are you holding yourself?  
Are you locked in your room?  
You shouldn't be…

_---'Are You Sad?' by Our Lady Peace_

(I love this song. When I'm sad, I play it and I just can't help but feel a little better about things. I'd recommend downloading it off somewhere to listen to. The lyrics don't do it justice. The live version is AMAZING! I just can't help but think it's such a Romy song.)

* * *

Rogue had collapsed on her bed and dropped to sleep the moment she locked her door, running into her room in tears. She welcomed sweet sleep. It took away the hell of her troubled mind. But it could only do that shortly. She had to wake up and she did, to reality and all its troubles. She had changed, wanting comfort, and was now in a pair of black sweatpants, socks, black T-shirt and green hoodie with a pair of smug black gloves on her hands. Even now, with no human contact, she wore them.

The problems in her life began to spin into one complete picture, her so called mother, her curse of powers, the betrayals and lies she'd suffered at the hands of others, the terrible mutant bigotry, it all lay heavy on her soul and began to ruin her entirely. They sprung forth from her eyes in the form of wet, silvering, shimmering tears, coursing down the contours of her striking face, telling of all the sadness in her pathetic life.

She clutched her pillow against her body tightly, tangled up in her sheets and comforter. The others had come and tried to reason with her, get her to come out, but she wouldn't, not when everything was her fault. It was all her fault and the tears began to sting her face. She had lost control and hurt the people she cared about most. The injuries on their bodies were because of her. She had inflicted them because she was frail, weak, pathetic and powerless. Rogue had no control of anything in her life and it just wasn't fair. She was mourning for her wretched existence.

The worse part of it was that she had hurt Remy the most.

That gash was because of her. That blood and pain that came from it was because of her. She had truly hurt someone she cared about. Rogue had practically killed him in the chaos and still, he came to her. It was he who was the light that guided her back, which prompted her to fight, to not give up hope, but why? His voice reached her when no one else could and brought her back. Why was it that he could do what no one could?

Still, she was doomed. She couldn't deny that she was not attracted to him, but it would never amount to anything. She was untouchable, meant to be alone forever and Remy couldn't save her from that. She was meant to be friends with him, nothing more and how empty that was, how hollow and miserable. She was meant to hold him at arm's length, never closer, no matter how tempted she was. She could share a million significant looks with him, but in the end they'd mean nothing? So why was she crying over him, over this? It wasn't worth it, when she was done, it'd still be the same, still be as sad and depressing. It wasn't in her capability to escape this, no matter how much she wanted to and tried.

She could never touch him, be the sort of woman that could be with him. So why did she bother? Why did she let herself get excited and happy when he looked at her, touched her, smiled at her, laughed at her, talked to her? It wouldn't be worth it, it would only hurt more in the end. She didn't think her heart could take it when that happened. It wasn't meant to be. She should just let it die. So why couldn't she?

Thus, she lay balled on her bed, letting the tears flow freely, drowning in her misery.

Suddenly, something caught her off guard. It was a noise a sound.

There, there it was again. It was…it was the strumming of a guitar. The tune was familiar…it piqued her interest and tears falling from her face, she sat up slightly, tucking her knees under her chin, wrapping her arms around herself and listened.

There was a voice, it was sweet and melodic. It was him. The words were familiar to her. And she remembered…the song; it was 'Are You Sad?' by Our Lady Peace. It was one of her favorites and he sang it to her.

She shut her eyes, just letting the lyrics and song wash over her and the sobs break free. Rogue could feel the song, the lyrics. It was for her.

And suddenly, she knew, knew that she wasn't alone. There was him and he would be with her always, no matter what, seeing her through the darkness, because he cared. He really did care about her.

Lifting her feet to the ground, she crossed the carpeted floor, whispering the lyrics to the song she knew so well. Stopping at the door, she paused, hesitating, almost unsure. But putting her hand to the knob, she made her choice. She opened the door. She let him in.

* * *

Remy sat there on the floor beside her door, back to the wall, his acoustic guitar in hand, playing its strings to the slow tune of the song, accompanying it with the lyrics he knew so well, close to his heart. He knew it was her song, but more than anything, he needed her to know that he was there, that he cared and always would. She mattered to him, no matter what. She was precious to him. He let the song carry him, hoping, preying to convey the message to her.

As he was about to sing the chorus one last time, her heard the door click open and turned his head to see her emerge, tears shimmering down her face, softly singing the last lines with him.

She turned to face him as he strummed the last few notes of the song, once again, entranced with his eyes as he was lured by hers. This moment, it was theirs.

When he finished, he propped the guitar on the wall and stood to his full height, his gaze never leaving hers. He noticed her white bangs hiding her face and reached out slowly to brush it off, taking note of the pain in her eyes, but also the fact that she'd somehow be okay, despite it all. He understood her. And then the tears began to spring faster from her eyes, and the sobs louder, she needed to be freed of it all. Launching herself into his waiting arms, Rogue buried her face in his chest as he let her cry, allowing her to release it all from inside. Remy wrapped his arms, tightly, securely, solidly around her. She felt so safe right now, almost like nothing bad could ever touch her.

No words were spoken or exchanged. They didn't need them. There, in the hall, he just held her close to him, stroking her hair, lending her comfort, support and understanding, letting her know that he'd be there for her whenever she needed him, always, for as long as she needed.

* * *

**UP NEXT: CHAPTER ELEVEN: DENY**

Well, this chapter will deal with the aftermath of Rogue's mini Self Possessed moment and will feature Rogue and Remy talking over things with Kitty, Kurt, Piotr, John, Tessa, Lucas and of course the rest of the Cajuns…and well, things get complicated!

I hope you all liked this chapter as much as I loved writing it.

_**REVIEW!**_

simba317


	11. Deny

**Disclaimer:** I, the insignificant Canadian high school student that I am do not own anything regarding the X-Men…so it's totally pointless to sue me over infringement when I'm writing on a site called 'fanfictiondotnet'.

**Author's Notes:** I'm always so inexplicably joyful when I start writing this fic, because I have all these preplanned ideas that are just waiting to be spilled out onto print. Let's see, on the agenda we have a little check in with the B-Hood and a lot of aftermath of Rogue's moment with talks from Logan, Kurt, Kitty, Mercy and Tess on Rogue's part and some chatter with John, Piotr, Lucas, Lapin, Emil and Henri on Remy's. Things get more problematic for our favorite Southern couple as they try to justify things with each other and of course, they'll have a moment by themselves too.

In know that this is real late…but I've been real busy lately. It's the pre-Christmas rush, school…damn school and I just haven't felt much like writing for some reason…that and just plain laziness.

Plus, I'm thinking about changing the title of 'Underground Resistance X' to 'Paradise City: the Story of Underground Resistance X'. I just like Paradise City…it's an allusion to that Guns N' Roses song…but it's also ironic, in it's implications…so what'd ya think? Change or stay the same.

I've also set up a Forum…go to my bio to check it out. Also, I think I'm gonna start posting excerpts of chapters that are in progress when I don't get them out quite fast enough.

Well, enough with that…now we get into the good stuff, but first, a word to my reviewers:

**Shout Outs:**

A big fat thank you to all those who reviewed: Cat2fat900, bored247, enchantedlight, MagCat, Nettlez, ishandahalf, The-Dragonlugia, k-hunter2000, serenity01 and Hunzi. You always make me real happy.

But anyway, here we go again.

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: DENY****

* * *

**

_Wanda felt like she had taken about thirty shots of vodka. Basically, it was the hangover from hell, or something like it. Her head was a pounding throb of intense pain and she couldn't concentrate on anything else but the constant intense ache. Why did she have to wake up now? She could barely concentrate, or see, for that matter, the pain impeded all her senses except those pesky nerve endings hell bent of sending feelings of pain to her brain. It was like she was stuck in a washing machine filled with rocks, bashing her body as the water churned and whirled with no hope of end to come. _

_Blaringly, she tried to focus in on her hand, but her damn vision kept on focusing then going blurry. This definitely wasn't helping. So she resigned herself to closing her eyes and waiting for the incessant ache to pass. She had only vague recollections of the night before. She had been asleep in her room, not pleasantly, that much was certain. The nightmares shocked her to the core and always left her feeling disturbed, frightened, weak, wrathful and self loathing. Last night had been no different. _

_Except that he came. Pietro came and comforted her and finally, after so long, things were getting better between them. After those eight years apart, then another year of bickering, violence and ill will, they were finally moving forward, trying to become what they once were, the best of friends, the closest of siblings, bonded twins. And then, those mysterious metallic orbs that emitted a vaporous substance, and then, she was here, wherever here was. _

_Despite the pounding in her head, Wanda began to wonder, wonder and question…just what the hell happened last night? Who were those military men? What were they doing? Why? And where on this goddamned Earth was she? _

_At last, after an incomprehensible amount of time, the throbbing pound of the pain receded a little, and she was finally able to focus her vision and make sense of her surroundings. She let out a pained groan, and propped up her body using an elbow, the other arm's hand, she massaged small circles to her temple. Opening her eyes, she was stunned by her surroundings. _

'_Where the hell am I?' her mind screamed. Her breathing became labored and quick…it was like…it was like she was back THERE again…but she couldn't…oh God, not THERE…_

_The chamber that enclosed her was fairly large…apparently they believed in giving their captives room to move. It would've been pleasant, if it weren't so ominous in appearance and the air conditioning jacked with blinding white lights that reflected of the black surfaces of the room. In fact, the entire cell was dark reflective ebony. In the corner furthest from the thick metal door, where she lay now, was the bed. It was small, but the white sheets were clean, the pillow was decent and the blankets were acceptable. A small set of draws were at the foot of her bed with several sets of what looked like pale blue hospital scrubs on it, a shirt and pant set, completely nondescript. Beside her was a small black night table, with a generic silver lamp with a brush and mirror, apparently the kidnappers weren't afraid of her breaking the mirror and using the glass like a knife to jab at them…There was a small black desk to the side with a silver metal chair, a desk lamp, some paper and writing tools. All her furniture was black. In the other corner was a pearly white toilet and sink, lacking very much of privacy, with a decent sized lighted mirror above the sink. On the sink were nondescript toiletries of toothbrushes, floss, cups, toothpaste etc…next to a small shelf with extra supplies incase she ran out of toilet paper, soap and feminine hygiene products…etc. Well, if worse come to worse, she could stab them with tampons. But there was a tiny shower with a black shower curtain, apparently they'd let her plot and scheme for however long she wanted in the three foot square space… If things weren't so creepy, she would've thought she was in a suitable hotel. (I can't help the astounding sarcasm. I thought it'd be appropriate to Wanda's situation…like the place is both sort of welcoming, but still entirely disturbing.)_

_Her floors were a shining obsidian and the wall with the door was a large mirror, spanning it's entirety, a thick out cropping ran along it, big enough for you to sit on comfortably and lean against the mirror, but Wanda knew better, it was a two way mirror, letting those on the outside see her, but she couldn't see them. The other walls matched the floors and the ceiling had black tiles and rows of white fluorescent lights. The walls were nondescript with no décor. _

_Looking to herself, she noticed that she was still in her pajamas, black, thick strapped, ribbed, racerback tank top with red pajama bottoms featuring black cats, with white moons and stars. She looked oh so threatening. _

_There was a loud earsplitting blaring noise, this ominous high pitched beep. The locks on a reinforced steel door, the black of obsidian, clicked open as the locking mechanism hummed, moving to the opening position. A red light on the door turned green. Hissing, a faint vapor was released as the heavy metallic entrance slid open, foreshadowing something disturbing to come._

_Emerging from the smoking entrance, stepped in two nondescript soldiers in black military fatigues, armour, their weapons, shinning with malice, included specially engineered high tech rifles, pistols and side arms, amongst the guns and a plethora of knives, short blades and daggers in plain view and hidden on their person, as well as grenades, stun guns, pepper spray, electric prods and other fun surprises that Wanda didn't recognize as she glanced at the pair of sentries. Ammunition was laced upon their person in the form of clips and magazines filled with bullets and other goodies. It was to be sure they knew with exceeding expertise and experience how to handle their artillery. Simply put, they were armed to the teeth and Wanda could sense that they weren't those incompetent rent-a-cops at the asylum. With their stature and aura, she knew that they were the elite, highly trained and wouldn't hesitate to put her in line or use their impressive arsenal on her and without mercy. Worse, large green visors, fitted like goggles, no doubt for night vision, obscured their faces, along with high tech gas masks, they were faceless suppressors. Oppressively, they began to stalk towards her as if she were a frightened doe and they, the hungry wolf. _

_Wanda's mind began to panic, her thoughts ran amok. Her breathing quickened, her heart rate increased. It was like she was back at the asylum again, begging for mercy, tasting the bitter torture and dehumanization. Rapidly, she scuffled into a corner, trying the best she could to back away from them, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape them. _

"_You can come with us the hard way, or the easy way. Just know that the easy way's better for you. We're not afraid to use force," said one in a patronizing tone. It was hard to distinguish who was talking from their masked faces. _

"_GO SCREW YOURSELF!" shouted Wanda bravely. _

_The other shrugged casually, if you could see his face, you would've seen the cruel lips twisting into a menacing smile, "Hard way it is, girlie." _

_Cocking their rifles, loading their guns, she heard the bullets click into place and the laser sights lock on her forehead and chest cavity, an ominous red beam leading the way to tear her flesh apart to make a nice explosion of organic matter on the wall behind her. She had no doubt they'd blow her brains out. Movies and Hollywood lie, there'd be no neat bullet hole on her forehead, it'd be a large hole in the front, skull completely blown off on the back, her brains scattered all over the walls, four liters of blood splashing the clean, sparkling, ebony surface of her cell. Quickening their approach, walking commando style, they were prepared to shoot her down at a moment's notice. _

"_We can still go easy on you," said one. _

"_FUCK YOU!" shrieked Wanda, reading the lies a mile away, it'd be hard anyway she did this…might as well make it harder for them. _

"_Have it your way, then," said the other, casually. _

"_EAT THIS!" screamed Wanda, arms outstretched, ready to hex them to oblivion. A moment of extreme terror passed and nothing happened. Freaked and shocked, Wanda stared at her hands, a million questions fighting for dominance. _

_The pair laughed. _

"_W—what…h-how?" whispered Wanda, trembling. _

"_That pretty little collar on your neck's a power nullifier. Don't expect to use them any time soon, girlie," one of soldiers explained. _

_Sure, they were taller, heavier and stronger than her, more trained, more armed, more experienced, more skilled, but she wouldn't go down without a fight, besides, she had the element of surprise. _

_Swallowing, Wanda steeled herself. Closing her eyes she gathered herself and upon opening her eyes, a storm of ice burned its fury, she was no longer weak, wretched Wanda, she was the unstoppable wrath of the Scarlet Witch! Letting out a battle cry, she leapt to her feet and charged at the guards like a cheetah with her sights on the gazelle. She let her fists fly, feeling them connect with the chin of one of the soldiers who didn't have time to react to her sudden attack. Before the other could apprehend her, she took his legs out with a swift kick. Both lost their rifles in the battle._

_A knife flashed, she punched it out of the one whose chin she had hit. The grabbed her from behind, Scarlet Witch elbowed the man on a pressure point in his neck. He fell to the shiny black floor in pain. Mystique's training was paying off. Scarlet Witch moved to a defensive position. She would not be pathetic; she would not be taken so easily, like back in her previous captive days. The one that had previously threatened the knife at her brandished a shiny sidearm. Wanda was undaunted. Adrenalin was giving her uncanny boldness. _

"_DIE MORON!" she admonished, before letting out a graceful spin kick, filled with force, making the gun fall out of the soldier's hand and into hers. Moving back slightly, so that both soldiers were under the range of the gun, she pointed it at the pair and advanced the bullet, hearing it cock into place. Her skilled fingers prepared to pull the trigger. _

_The one she had fallen first got up and clapped, mockingly, laughing at her. _

"_SHUT UP!" she screeched. _

"_You think you've won this, no where close, girlie," he said. _

_Wanda faltered slightly…What could he mean? _

_The soldier sent a hand signal to his comrade. The other soldier reached into the folds of his utility vest and pulled out a device that looked like a small, high tech TV remote. He pressed a few buttons. There was a series of ill-omened beeps and immediately a green vaporous gas escaped from the air vents. _

_Scarlet Witch fell to the floor in an unconscious heap, defeated, the sidearm falling from her hand, letting out a clatter as it hit the floor. _

_The two men strided to her prone form and picking her up, took her out from her cell, leading her to God knows where. _

_

* * *

_

_Pietro loved Sci-Fi movies, hell, he always wanted to be in one, just not this one. The cell he had come from was glistening black, the lab he was currently held up in was glowing white with pristinely tiled floors and walls. All sorts of lights were hung from the ceilings. Hundreds of silver and sharp looking medical tools which he couldn't even begin to identify lined a long silver cart, speaking of untold pain. A long row of operating tables lined the room, silver, gleaming and uncomfortable to his back and limbs which were strapped in tightly, along with his chest, with no hope of escape. He could see tons of different medical supplies._

_It was like he was watching ER, except infinitely cooler and more high tech, if there wasn't an overbearing sense of foreboding about the room. There were no windows and only one door, a swinging one with a window that looked into the black halls of the rest of the base. It would have looked like freedom if he didn't know where they led. Along the walls every couple of meters was a large tube, large enough to fit three people in, filled with a strange green substance where bubbles would dance through and he could only wonder what they were used for. Next to that was an interesting, complicated looking key pad. Many complicated computers resided in this room, along with many more of those faceless soldiers guarding the perimeter of the room. A shelf of God knows what was also in the room as well as what looked like the morgue from CSI in one wall. It was lined with silver these cupboards that he could only guess what were in them. A huge basin big enough for several human bodies was there too. _

_The collar around his neck felt tight, heaving and uncomfortable, making the room seem all the more stifling and daunting. All of his flight instincts were telling him to run and it was too ironic that the one time this instinct was taking hold of all his being was the one time he couldn't use it. A lot of good his mutant power was doing right now. He had struggled, he had tried. His words had been insulting and venomous. But without his speed, he was no match for the ten guards that had disposed of him quickly and dragged him off kicking and screaming into the lab, locking him onto the operating table he was currently trapped on. He only prayed that the others were alright, especially Wanda. _

_He heard the door swing open and craning his neck, he could just make out two soldiers carrying in an unconscious Wanda. 'OH CRAP!' his mind cursed. He wanted to yell and scream, but the damned strap over his mouth did well to prevent that. Pietro prayed that she was alright. Out of all of them, she was the one that didn't deserve to be suffering any of what was to come. She had been through enough already. Despite his protests, the soldiers paid no heed, just went about their business, strapping Wanda into the table next to him with the thick restraints. With their job done, the pair of soldiers went into position with their comrades along the room. _

_Soon, two men stepped in. One was tall and built like a football player. He wore a black turtle neck sweater and cargo pants with combat boots and many guns strapped to his body. His hair was dark and his eyes cold and grey. The other was tall and lanky with blonde hair, pale skin, think lips and piercing blue eyes. A long white lab coat hung of his thin form with navy colored operating scrubs. A stethoscope dangled from his neck. _

_The man in black stepped over to him, staring condescendingly into his face from on top of his prone body. "Hello," he said with a cultured British accent, "My name is General William Stryker. You mutants we captured last night are now property of Project Red Dawn Annihilation. This is my colleague Doctor Demitri Alexander Zeitsevitch. He and his doctors will be performing a series of experiments on you to test our pride and joy here. We call it the Legacy Virus. As for what it will do, you'll find out soon enough. But first, I'll turn you over to my dear doctor here to do a few preliminary experiments to test you out first. Don't worry; we don't go into some of the more dangerous experiments right away. We're just going to test your reflexes, that sort of thing, like a normal physical's annual physical check up…but you'll find our ways, more thorough and vigorous. But for now, my boy, I'll leave you to Dr. Zaitsevitch." _

"_Thank you, General," said the doctor amicably. _

"_No, it was my pleasure," he said regarding his colleague with a smile before stepping out of the lab, whistling a happy tune. _

"_Tell me, Pietro, did you ever believe zhe results from zhe experiments zhe Nazis did on twins during World War II vere true? Yes? No? Vell, I vas never too zure…so I said to myself, 'Vhy not find out?'" said Dr. Zaitsevitch, in a thick Russian accent with a mocking smile. _

_Pietro could only stare at the man in horror._

_(I know what you're thinking…I believe it's along the lines of 'oh crap!' and 'Eep!'…well, let's just say things don't look too great for any of the captured mutants. I really liked this passage. It was really easy to get into it. I wrote it in one day, from Wanda's waking up to Pietro's freaking out.)_

_

* * *

_

"Y' gonna be okay now, Chere?" (This is oddly like juxtaposition…in a way, it's almost asking the audience too if they're okay after finding out how Pietro and Wanda are…it's no coincidence that that is the next line.)

Rogue heard his voice emit from somewhere above her. She loved the way his voice sounded, deep, melodious, accented, like chocolate melting in the heat, all heavy and sweet.

She looked into his unique eyes and smiled at him and his heart pounded a little faster, he had gotten her to smile! Rogue was beautiful, despite her eyes that were still a little puffy and the faint remnants of tears on her face.

"Yeah," Rogue whispered, still wrapped in his strong embrace. It was a place she didn't want to leave. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely safe and warm, happy even, it felt like someone cared and she relished that. The only problem was, she liked it a little too much.

He looked into her eyes, happiness reflected back to her in his and a genuine smile lifting his lips, "Good. Y' want m' t' take y' down t' get some food b'fore Kurt scarfs down all de scraps."

"Ya make him sound lahke a dog, or a farm animal, sugah," commented Rogue, scrunching up her nose in a fashion that Remy found exceedingly adorable.

"Have y' seen what and how he eats, Cherie?" asked Remy wryly. Rogue snorted and let out a giggle muffled against his chest, it was music to his ears.

"Point taken," said Rogue, "He's tha human food vacuum."

Remy nodded. They were still tightly wrapped in each other's arms.

"Ah think Ah'll do some homework first befoh Ah come down. Ah just don't wanna be around anyone raht now…" she trailed off.

Remy knew what she meant and inside he let out an exasperated sigh. He knew that she didn't want to come down to be met with a hundred questions about her well being, see their concerned faces, their pity. She wanted to put on her mask, tell them everything was okay and dispel any of their concerns about her. _'It don' hafta be like dis, Chere.'_

"Okay," he mumbled into the top of her head, against her silky hair.

At last, they broke away, reluctantly.

"So Ah'll see ya later…" said Rogue, not quite meeting his eyes, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah…Good night, Chere," replied Remy picking up his guitar and heading off to his room to read another oh so exciting chapter of his thousand plus page text book for his class the next day.

"Good night," whispered Rogue after him, so quietly that he almost didn't hear. It made him smile though, gave him hope, for what, he didn't know.

* * *

After Remy had left to obviously comfort Rogue, well at least to him anyway, Kurt had steeled himself and shoveled down his food. Rogue would be alright, he was sure of that and he wanted to hurry up and eat, then see if she was as alright as he thought she'd be. So after a quick goodbye to his friends at the table, he jogged out of the dining room and leapt up the grand stair case to the second floor from the main hall on all fours…he was faster that way, you see.

Switching to an upright position on his feet, he swiftly sauntered to the Rogue and Kitty's room, in search of his wayward sister. Just as he was about to turn the corner to her room, he heard the lines of a faint conversation wafting into his keen ears. Quieting his steps, he crept along the wall, hiding himself from view only to be rewarded with a touching seen, making him smile.

Rogue and Remy wrapped in a gentle embrace, so different than who they were around the others, stripped raw to the truth of their core, that was what he saw and it heartened him…except, they'd never admit this significant moment to the others and all it meant would be wasted…no, something needed to commemorate this…and like the proverbial light bulb going off, Kurt had just the idea.

Quietly, he sauntered down the hallway as fast as he could and upon reaching an area far enough away, he teleported into his room, making sure his unsuspecting victims wouldn't hear the sound of his teleportation. Emerging in his room that he shared with Jamie…for he was the only boy, other than Scott that wouldn't taint him…he ran to his bed side table on which resided his most favorite of technological devices, his SLR digital camera, (professional quality photos on SLR format). A grin spread across his fanged teeth.

A single bamf later and he was back in the same spot he had originally teleported from. Urging silence to his feet, he sauntered back to his hiding spot to observe Rogue and Remy, their topic of conversation eliciting his curiosity.

"Good. Y' want m' t' take y' down t' get some food b'fore Kurt scarfs down all de scraps."

"Ya make him sound lahke a dog, or a farm animal, sugah,"

"Have y' seen what and how he eats, Cherie?"

"Point taken," said Rogue, "He's tha human food vacuum."

Kurt let out an amused smile, before readying his camera for action. He heard their momentary silence and thought it the opportune moment, whipping out the camera in their direction, he quickly leapt up from his hiding place, snapped the photo silently and moved back to his previous position. The result of his escapade? Masterpiece… It was truly the perfect photo. Clearly, it showed Remy and Rogue's feelings for each other, well to him, anyway. Knowing his sister was in fact going to be alright, he bounded down the hall in search of Kitty, one of his partners in crime to show him the most excellent photographic evidence in exuberant joy.

'_Zhe Fuzzy One strikes again!' _

_

* * *

_

A while later, when Rogue felt herself ready, she composed herself and strode into the kitchen, defiant, strong and confident…on the outside at least. Never let others see your fear; it was one of her rules of life. It was a little past eight thirty, she had finished her homework, a surprising occurrence at eight thirty.

Although as much as she felt better, she still hurt. All around her were people, people in relationships. Relationships she'd never have the chance to experience. Jubilee and Bobby, despite landing on the wall of best things or something more, each having feelings and an intense crush on each other, while still neglected their feelings had a relationship, more so than she'd ever with Remy. Hell, they were best friends, closer than close. They told each other absolutely everything…well as close to everything that you could possibly get. It was something even she and Kitty, no matter how close they were didn't have. Kitty knew when to prompt her for more or leave her alone and more than often, Kitty respected and knew Rogue enough to leave her alone, despite her wishes. Sometimes, she wished she could be as open to Kitty as Jubilee was with Bobby or Tabby with Amara. It was wishful thinking though.

Kurt was her brother, not by blood, but still he was her brother in every way that counted and although their relationship had improved exponentially, something was still missing. Maybe it was because she couldn't give herself fully to their relationship. There was this wall, a gap between them that was close and tiny that she just never seemed to be able to fill and cross over. Scott and Alex were brothers, siblings in every way. They supported each other, helped each other, laughed together, confided in each other and reached out to each other. Kurt and Rogue did that too, but not in the way that Scott and Alex were. There was a familial connection and while Kurt and she had that, she couldn't help but feel that it wasn't as strong. They'd always protect and defend each other…but wasn't for the sake of being siblings or friends and teammates? She didn't doubt that she felt brotherly love for him, but still, something was missing. Something always was held back between them and she didn't know if it was her or him or both.

Logan was like a father to her, he understood her nature like no one else and while they were similar and they did connect, she too hid things from him. She didn't know if it was because Logan backed off so much or if because she wasn't willing to share. Perhaps this was the loner's problem. You can be so close to people…yet so far at the same time. Her world only seemed to make sense when she was by herself. Logan seemed to get that, but even he seemed more capable of human contact than she, he had gotten together with Ororo after all. He was her mentor, her teacher, her father figure, but still, on some levels, it wasn't as open as Scott and Jean with the professor. True, they did talk about everything and nothing, but they always either seemed to dance around the issues or run at them head on and neither was pretty. When they talked, really talked, it was sad and weepy, or an understanding nod, or unrelenting anger and shouting. But he did get her.

Then, there were the others at the mansion, they were friends for sure, lesser siblings or cousins, but the fact was, although Rogue knew more about them than most knew of each other, they barely knew her. Oh sure, they knew what she was like on her best and worst days, her favorite thins and such, but they just weren't close on the same level that she was with Logan, Kitty, Kurt, Rogue or Remy, or even John or Piotr for that matter. It was just that they were friends, good friends, just there was a distance between them, a distance that is between all friends, except the closest ones. Basically, they were good loyal friendships, but just didn't hold to par anything she held between those she held dear. As bad as it sounded, they were expendable. Yes, she'd mourn and be deeply saddened if anything happened to them, but they wouldn't affect her in the profound way that losing Logan, Kitty or Kurt would. Ororo, Hank and the professor were the good, kind uncle, aunt, or father, mother, grandfather figures to her and would always hold a spot in her heart for all their advice and patience, even though she could group them in a category above the other students at the institute…there was still a gap between them, they knew her…but couldn't touch her truly.

And then there was Remy. No one could ever confuse her as much as he. Around him, she began to see that there were no walls to protect her, no veils to cover, no masks to hide behind and no facades to fake. He penetrated it all, without his or her knowing. Was he clever or was it just because he was Remy? She was honest to him on a level that wasn't on par with Logan, Kurt or Kitty. It was honestly nothing she could pin down that was similar to anyone else's relationship with someone else. And she couldn't for the life of her pin what sort of relationship they had. If they were friends, it sure as hell didn't feel like it, was it more, was it less? It wasn't love or lust. She couldn't define it and it bothered her relentlessly. Who was he to her? She couldn't pin it down. All she knew was that she had something with him that she had never experienced before with anyone else. It was frightening and shocking in realization, but also comforting, exciting and intriguing. For the first time in her life, there was someone who could see her, really see her and she didn't know if it was good or bad.

Did she want to be more with him? Honestly, she didn't know, but she felt something with him that made her feel warm, happy, special, satisfied and safe, something she had never known before with one person. But she knew that she would only ever hold him at arm's length and that no matter how close she could be with him, how many gaps they bridged, in the end, there'd always be a step she couldn't take with him and that was what mattered, that she couldn't make it across the gap fully.

Oh, relationships…it really hurt her that it seemed that everyone had someone, while not everyone's feelings had been fully realized on Valentine's Day, she could see more than a few seeds being planted. Perhaps, she was jealous, jealous at what everyone could have that she never could. And those who got what she wanted would always take what she wished for so badly, for granted. Life was a cosmic joke for her, truly, she was living a curse and she could barely scrape by.

In the hall, coming down to the main level, she had felt her heart plummet. It was another happy couple in the making. Sam had finally confessed his feelings to Tabitha and while she was happy that they finally got their feelings out there, she couldn't help but feel all the more inadequate and sad. Really, it had been amusing to watch Sam and Tabby around each other, whenever they talked to each other, it was nothing but blushes, stutters and half finished sentences. You'd never think Tabby to be a shy girl, but Sam brought out feelings she'd never felt and suddenly, all the confidence and guts that Tabby possessed were gone, to be replaced with her fears. And well, Sam, he got worse, but still, it all worked out. Rogue was touched by the scene, it made her smile, feel that maybe love did happen to good people, but it still hurt knowing more people had achieved what she never could. She was doomed to be alone. Oh, Valentine's Day, how thou mock thee. (We're doing Macbeth in English…which means I currently have Old English on the brain.)

She could only count her lucky stars and thank the Lord that Scott and Jean were in University, so she didn't have to see them all lovey dovey. That would be much too painful. Seeing what they had, so pure and perfect, something that she could never hope to have, tormented her, it hurt, clutched her heart out and stabbed it with a razor-sharp blade. As happy as she was for them, it was like they mocked her every time they were together, even if it was unintentional. She couldn't help but feel the all the hurt and pain. And there was nothing she could ever do to change that.

The professor had thought otherwise. He always had, but Rogue was despairing. She'd tried to fix this for so long, but it was just all a big failure. She had seen him after being one of the unwitting audience members for Sam and Tabby's confessional moment. It was the same as always, a check up on her powers and her current mental state and while she trained with him every week, she couldn't feel that she was going no where. All the lessons and days wasted trying and still, nothing. Her mind was a mess and it always seemed that these sessions were more about reigning in her psyches, rather than controlling her powers to her eternal dismay. The worst part was seeing the professor's optimism every single time, like the breakthrough was just around the corner. She wanted to apologize to the kind man. She'd never be able to make what he hoped for her come true. He was wasting his time, but still, every Monday at eight o' clock, she was in his office, for up past an hour in a private lesson. Maybe she had hope, or maybe she just didn't want to see the sadness that would cross kind Xavier's features at seeing what he thought would succeed, fail.

Today had been a short session. Xavier had just checked to see if all her blocks were back in place and if her mental health was back to where it should be having noticed the nosedive it had taken in less than a week. Luckily, it was on the verge of climbing back at where it should be, or back to where Rogue was normally, which wasn't a very high climb at all.

Stumbling blaringly to the fridge to see what was left of dinner, Rogue recalled her conversation, moments before with Kurt and Kitty, upon leaving the professor when she had heard them in the hall, making her way to the kitchen.

* * *

"_OMIGOSH, KURT! That's SO cute! Where'd you get that!" shrieked an exuberant Kitty Pryde at the adorable photo on Kurt's digital camera. _

"_Shhh…Kitty! Do you vant zhe entire tri-state area to hear?" admonished Kurt in a stage whisper, casting paranoid glances over his shoulder. _

"_Sorry," whispered Kitty, embarrassed, eyes downcast from where she and Kurt sat side by side on the plush leather couch in front of the huge wide screen television of the downstairs Rec room. The mansion had several Rec rooms. Currently, they were watching 'The Amazing Race' while doing their homework, or trying to. _

"_It's okay," said Kurt excitedly, immediately forgiving Kitty for her huge indiscretion, "But for your information, I got it vhen I vent upstairs after dinner to check up on mein Schwester. I just happened upon zhem hugging and went back to get my camera." _

_Kitty let out a wide mischievous grin, "E-mail me a copy, Piotr and I are going tomorrow to discuss a course of action to get them together and this is totally hard core evidence! They can't deny that there's something between them."_

_Kurt laughed at her enthusiasm, "For zhure, Katzhen." _

_Kitty let out a squeal, "I'm SO excited. Getting them together will be SO perfect." _

"_Matchmaking, again?" teased Kurt. _

"_Hey, I'm always right about these things, am I not? Who predicted that Sam would confess his feelings to Tabby? Why it was me, yes, me!" said Kitty indignantly. _

"_I do remember somezhing about zhat, but zhen zhis is coming from zhe girl who can't string sentences vhen a certain colossal Russian is in zhe room…" accused Kurt. _

"_Shut up," said Kitty as she smacked Kurt on the arm as he chuckled, a dark blush coloring her cheeks. _

"_You know, I'm surprised you're so supporting of Rogue getting together with Remy…you're a tad protective," said Kitty. That was an understatement, a gross understatement. _

"_Changing zhe subject are we?" said Kurt, raising an eyebrow, going on the defensive. _

"_Answer the question," said Kitty firmly. _

_Kurt rubbed his neck, "Vell…I guess I just vant mein Schwester to be happy. Remy seems to do zhat and I guess I can't really stand in zhe vay of zhat. He's a good man."_

"_Aww, that's sweet," said Kitty, with a smile. _

"_Don't get me wrong, he hurts her and I'm porting his remains to Antarctica," said Kurt with a thick scowl. Kitty groaned. _

"_Who are ya 'portin' ta Antarctica?" asked Rogue as she heard the last strains of the conversation as she entered the room. _

_Kurt balked, whilst Kitty hid the camera and said, "Mr. Hanson, our Social Studies teacher. He loaded us up with homework on some obscure sixteenth century treaty on snow peas…" said Kitty convincingly. _

_Rogue winced, "Ouch, good luck with that." _

"_Thanks," came Kurt and Kitty's deadpan reply. Luckily, Kurt had seen what Kitty was doing and went with it. _

"_It's good to see you back up, Rogue," said Kitty sincerely, as she got up from the couch to give her friend a hug, to which Rogue reciprocated after initial shock and apparent unease. _

"_Thanks, Kit," said Rogue warmly. _

"_You sure you are alright now?" asked Kurt, shooting her a worried glance. Rogue hated this, making those she cared about worry about her. _

_She sighed and put on a smile, hating herself for having to tell them this again, "Yeah." _

_Kurt gave her a weak smile, "Alright," he conceded, knowing not to push her. _

"_Ah'm sorrah if Ah hurt ya guys back in tha Danger Room," said Rogue softly, forlornly._

"_Don't apologize, Rogue, we get it, it's okay. It's not your fault. We just wish we could help you more," admitted Kitty. _

"_Ja, mein Schwester. Ve vere only out for about an hour. It vas a nice nap," replied Kurt. _

"_Thanks for being so understanding guys," said Rogue with a smile. Kurt and Kitty never held anything with her powers against her. _

"_No problem," said Kurt warmly. _

"_So what happened after you know?" asked Kitty innocently, feigning innocence._

_Kurt felt like pulling out his hair at the implications of what she was asking Rogue, the warning bells were sounding and he was preparing for the worst…was Kitty relying on the fact that Rogue liked her and that she was too cute to be beat into a pulp? _

"_Well, it took tha combahned efforts of tha professah, Betsy, Logan and Remy for meh ta break through tha psyches," explained Rogue, carefully, trying not to reveal anything. _

"_Hmm…" mused Kitty, "So what was the turning point?" asked Kitty, pressing further. _

'_Abort! Abort!' thought Kurt. _

"_What do ya mean?" asked Rogue raising her eyebrow suspiciously, not liking the where the conversation was going. _

_Kitty was about to open her mouth when Kurt interjected with, "Vhat she means is ve vant to know vhat made you pull through so zhat ve can get through to you zhe next time zhat may happen," explained Kurt as Kitty shot him a dirty look. _

_Rogue let out a frustrated sigh knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of this one, "If you must know, Ah suppose it was something that Remy said to meh. It just, Ah don't know, it got through ta meh, it made meh want tah trah harder ta get back in control, it made meh want to come back," she confessed. _

_Kitty and Kurt exchanged thoughtful glances, completely knowing those implications. _

"_Vhat exactly did he say?" wondered Kurt. _

"_Whah ya wanna know?" asked Rogue, suspicious and defensive. _

"_Vhy aren't you villing to share, mein Schwester?" asked Kurt with a raised eyebrow. _

_Damn, she was caught. _

"_What did he say to you, Rogue?" asked Kitty with equal curiosity. _

"_Franklah, I don't wanna tell y'all. Ya'll blow it out of proportion," accused Rogue. _

_Kitty pointed the condemning finger at Rogue, "So you admit he said something that is exceedingly private to you." _

"_Yes," said Rogue, not seeing where this was going. _

"_That's all I need to know," said Kitty with a smug smile. _

"_Okaaay," said Rogue annoyed as much as she was confused. _

_There was an eerie moment of silence, one that made Kurt believe that perhaps Rogue and Kitty would not be at each other's throats and what had once been tense and foreboding had been settled. _

"_YOU SO HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM! DON'T DENY IT!" shouted Kitty all of sudden, just when Rogue thought she was off the hook. _

"_AH DO NOT, KATHERINE REBECCA PRYDE!" returned Rogue with equal force. _

_Kurt buried his head in his hands and groaned. _

"_Then what did he say to you, huh!" launched Kitty. _

"_Ah'm NOT tellin' ya!" refused Rogue. _

"_And that's all the evidence I need, Rogue," concluded Kitty. _

"_Uh-Argh," groaned Rogue, "Ah'm going to go get dinner now, it's good ta see that you guys are okay. Ah don't wanna argue, alraht? Remy, he's a good friend and Ah just don't much wanna tell ya what he said ta meh, because it's just something Ah'd lahke ta keep for mahself." _

"_It's okay Rogue," said Kurt placing a consoling hand on her shoulder, smiling, "Ve understand…zhat you have a zhing for Remy."_

"_Oh Gawd, not you too, Kurt," complained Rogue as she began to leave the stifling air of the Rec room. _

"_Can ya smell that, Kurt?" asked Kitty wrinkling her brow as Rogue stepped out the door._

"_Vhy yes, Katzhen, it's zhe smell of denial and it stinks," agreed Kurt. Rogue groaned and buried her head in her hands as she quickened her stride down the hall._

_

* * *

_

"Try the top shelf, Stripes," said a voice somewhere from the counter top on a barstool.

Rogue immediately startled, jumping and bumping her head on the top of the fridge which she had been hard pressed to find anything that looked appetizing, "Shit!" she cursed.

Logan chuckled, "I rounded up some grub from dinner and put it up there to deter the rest o' the munchkins."

Rogue stood on her tippy toes and searched the uppermost shelf and there at the very back, were containers of Tupperware filled with tonight's leftovers. 'Success!'

"Ya know, 'Roro wouldn't appreciate much ya callin' her food 'grub'," teased Rogue, as she, after much trying, swiped down the containers of precious food and turned to face her father figure.

"Meh, whatever," said Logan, as he brought his beer to his lips, taking a swig in the thick darkness of the kitchen.

"She wouldn't lahke ya drinkin' that, either," said Rogue, referring to his choice of drink.

"What she doesn't know, Stripes, won't kill her," said Logan as Rogue placed what she wanted on a plate to be microwaved.

"Ya reallah want her ta hear this, doncha?" asked Rogue, as she placed her plate in the mircrowave and set it to the appropriate time.

"I have no intentions of landing in the dog house," said Logan gruffly, "I need my vices." Rogue put away the things she had taken out to their appropriate places in the spacious kitchen.

"You're gonna be on the couch, tonaht, Logan," said an amused Rogue. Logan snorted and chuckled.

"We'll see," he said. It seemed that Rogue was the only student that he was actually not scary around, that it was only around each other that they sort of let down their guard a little.

"Indeed," said Rogue as she sat down beside him on one of the stools and took a sip of his beer. Logan didn't say anything.

"What are ya doin' down here anahway?" asked Rogue.

"Needed a cold one to survive the Festival of Rampant Hormones," confessed Logan.

"That's Valentine's Day foh ya," said Rogue with a sigh. Logan sensed it was a touchy subject.

"The day card, chocolate and jewelry companies get to make big money by sucking on superficial sentiments," said Logan wryly.

"Forgot it was Valentine's Day and pissed off 'Roro, didn't ya?" ascertained Rogue.

Logan chuckled, "Something like that. Got somethin' planned later, though."

"Does said activity involve lots of sucking up and begging?" asked Rogue knowing that she was one of the few who could get away with it, talking to Logan like that.

"Maybe," said Logan, "Hopefully not. I did manage to give her some white lilies before she figured out that I forgot."

"Well, they're her favorite," commended Rogue, "It'll lessen the blow. Hopefullah, Ah'm pullin foh ya."

"Thanks, Stripes," said Logan with a chuckle.

"Glad ter see you alright, kid," said Logan warmly, "You know we all care about ya right?"

"Yeah," replied Rogue trying not to laugh at the Wolverine's attempts to talk about feelings and sentimental things.

"Good, then stop closing yourself off from us. Just because you see Chuck once a week and talk to some of the others doesn't mean you're trying. We'd just like ter see ya try for once instead of always actin' like the world's on a breaking string, because maybe that'd help ya find your way," advised Logan, "We can only help you if you help yourself and let us help you."

"Fine, but it's not lahke ya Mistah 'Glass-Half-Full' either," rebutted Rogue.

Logan chuckled, "I'm not sayin' ya should all of a sudden become Miss 'Social Butterfly' just that ya don't shut us out when ya need help."

Rogue took a deep breath, conceding, "Okay."

"Good," said Logan gruffly as he headed to the fridge to grab another beer. He silently grabbed two as well as Rogue's food from the beeping microwave. He then set down the food in front of Rogue along with a beer, after he'd rid the caps from both bottles.

"Yah're reallah gonna beh in tha doghouse if 'Roro catches you now," said Rogue raising an eyebrow.

"Ya want the drink or not, kid?" asked Logan.

"Point taken," said Rogue as they reached a companiable silence with their foodstuffs. Others never did take Logan's beer from the fridge because that meant unending doom and demise and that's why he put it there, to mock them with it. It was his sadistic idea of fun…too bad Remy never paid attention to that. He tended to help himself whenever he felt like it.

"Ah'm sorrah for absorbin' ya back there," admitted Rogue.

"You know I don't mind, Stripes, you have my psyche after all," revealed Logan, showing that he did indeed had a soft spot when it came to Rogue.

Rogue smiled, "Yeah, Ah do, thanks."

"Cajun came through," mused Logan.

"Yeah, he did," said Rogue, cursing the fact that she hadn't had her makeup on, since that would've covered her ruby cheeks.

Wolverine groaned and ran his hand over his face, "You have a thing fer him, doncha?"

"WHAT! HELL NO!" exploded Rogue, nearly spit taking her food, "Not you too."

"You gotta be kidding me," complained Logan, seeing that it was indeed true from her actions.

"Ah don't have a thing for him! Why does everyone think Ah have a thing for him?" asked Rogue, narrowing her eyes.

"You really want me ter answer that question?" asked Logan carefully.

Rogue groaned.

"Look, I'm not gonna prevent ya from seein' Gumbo, Stripes, but be careful. He's the type ter make mistakes and hurt people, even when he doesn't mean to," said Logan, gruffly, speaking from personal experience. If he didn't know better, he'd say that Remy was a younger version of himself, mindless strings of women thrown aside.

"Logan, there is no Remy and meh, we're friends, just friends," complained Rogue.

Logan ignored her and went on, "If he hurts you, tell me and I won't hesitate to maim him."

"That's comforting," Rogue deadpanned.

Logan sighed, seeing that Rogue's legendary stubbornness would not be swayed.

"This goes back to our previous conversation. You can't let your powers prevent you from living life, kid," advised Logan.

"Ah'm not," reaffirmed Rogue firmly, half convincingly.

"Riiight, so you and Gumbo living out 'The OC' is just regular teenage angst," Logan deadpanned.

"Okay, first of all, mah powers are just that, Ah have relationships with other people…and since when d'ya watch 'The OC?" asked Rogue.

"I don't, Kitty does," he pointed to his ears, "Super hearing kid and Mischa Barton really can't act."

Rogue laughed, "She really can't."

"Neither can you," exposed Logan, sadly. (My favorite line in this whole exchange right here.)

"We're naht having this conversation," sighed Rogue, "Let it lie."

"Fine, but I warned you. At least consider what I said," concluded Logan.

"Fine," agreed Rogue.

"Promise me, give me your word," urged Logan.

Rogue sighed, "I, Rogue, promise you that I will think about what you said. Happy?"

"Will do," agreed Logan, as they slipped out of the conversation to move to silence and then other conversations as if the previous had been completely forgotten. But in their minds, it never vanished.

* * *

(This next bit was REALLY random…I thought of it and then I just HAD to put it in. It made me laugh the moment I thought of it.)

It was now close to ten and Rogue decided to get ready for bed, so she took her leave from Logan and walked out into the foyer where the grand stair case was that led to the upper levels. Just as she was walking the side hall, leading to the foyer, she heard a rich, inviting voice from the living room.

"Rogue! Chile, y' just who I wanted t' talk t' right now. Come over here," she greeted, waving Rogue into the room. Rogue, too meek to refuse the elderly woman, walked into the luxuriously decorated living room full of lush couches, fluffy pillows and throw blankets. It was the perfect place to lounge and relax.

"Bonjour, Tante Mattie," she greeted, in return. The woman had insisted that they all call her Tante Mattie.

"How are y' doin', chile? Y' feelin' better now?" she asked, motherly concern filling her face.

"Ah'm good now, thanks," replied Rogue politely as she took a seat beside the plum woman, noticing the large sketch book in her hands, that she had no doubt gotten from Piotr filled with what looked like sketches of table settings, flower arrangements, seating arrangements, dress designs, flowing veils and extravagant jewelry.

"Remy help y', did he chile? He's such a sweet boy, despite what ot'ers seem t' think," said Tante Mattie.

Rogue smiled, "Yeah, he is," she admitted, blushing slightly, noticing it appeared she was planning someone's wedding.

"So I need y' t' answer a few questions from m', chile. Y' t'ink y' can do dat?"

"Yeah, sure," said Rogue, wondering just what Tante wanted to ask her.

"Do you like white or red roses? Or how about white lilies, or Chrysanthemums or something else, like orchids?" asked Tante excitedly.

"Umm…Roses are nice, Ah guess," she started, wondering why Tante Mattie would ask such a strange question, "but Ah reallah lahke…"

"Wait! I have it! Purple orchids. You'd look so good with them," Tante interjected.

"Suuure…" said Rogue confused at what she was getting at.

"Are you of Catholic, Christian, Baptist or Jewish background? And don't worry, we're very flexible about t'ings like dat," asked Tante Mattie.

"Catholic?" said Rogue unsure and unconfident, getting a little freaked out at why Tante was asking her all this.

"Oh good. We won't have to do any strange fusion t'ings. Dere supposed to be in style, but I just t'ink dey're strange, don't you?" said Tante, obliviously to Rogue's increasing unease.

"Yeah, sure," said Rogue.

"What d'y' t'ink of silk, chiffon, velvet, lace, linen or satin?" she continued. Rogue's eyes widened, completely petrified at the implications, but Tante continued, "Do y' prefer eggshell, cream or ivory? Eggshell white would go so well with y' hair…but ivory or cream will bring warmth to your skin. I'm not sayin' y' don't have good skin…but y' know…and cream and ivory would give dat sort of elegant Gothic look, while white is just such a classic that can be modern and trendy, yet traditional and lovely. Y' really could do any color. What do d'y' t'ink?"

Tante stopped briefly at which Rogue stared at her like she was going to pass out, mumbling some incoherent string of words, completely stunned. Ignoring her lack of intelligent wording, Tante Mattie continued.

"Are y' for or against de veil because Marianne's veil would go perfectly for y'? It's made of such beautiful lace, made from de finest makers in France. It has a lovely silver and diamond headpiece and silk ribbon embroidery and lovely beading. I'm sure no one would mind y' wearing it. I mean we'd just all be happy to see it out again. Mercy wore it t' her wedding. It'd be wonderful t' continue de tradition. Y' could totally pull off de look."

Rogue was about to make a run for it, preparing to launch herself into the open door, when all of a sudden Tante Mattie grabbed her arm in a vice grip and continued on.

"Oh y're one for emeralds aren't you? Dey'd match exactly to your eyes, chile. We've got de perfect emerald ring in Jean Luc's vault. It was Remy's great grandmot'er's engagement ring. It's a silver and platinum band with a gorgeously huge emerald center, cut flawlessly, of course, framed with flawless diamonds and with these lovely engravings on it filled with diamond chips. O' course, Remy'll probably modify it t' make it suit y' better. I imagine he'd customize it and give it t' y' with a lovely message engraved on the inside of the band. He's romantic like dat. Don't tell him I told y', chile."

A pitiful whimpering sound was heard from Rogue where she sat on the couch.

"Do y' t'ink Remy'd look better in a traditional tuxedo or a suit and what colours d'y t'ink f'r dat? He could really pull off anyt'ing. It's such a hard decision. But he'd look absolutely dashing in anyt'ing y' put him in," she sighed happily.

"Oh dear Lawd!" said Rogue.

"Oh indeed, chile. He'd look absolutely breathtaking," said Tante Mattie misinterpreting what Rogue really meant, "Do you like the summer or winter, spring or fall? I mean in de summer, y' could have a fantastic outdoor one in the full bloom o' a garden. In winter, y'd have all dis wonderful snow as a backdrop. For Fall, you have dese brilliant rich colours and spring is just so full of life and hope. Big or small? Will dis be an intimate affair or a grand occasion? I imagine y'd probably want an intimate affair for y' wedding wit' only y' closest friends and family, right, chile?"

Remy chose that moment to emerge in the living room, "Hey, Tante, d'y' know where m' copy o' 'War an' Peace' went?" he asked, "Oh hey, Rogue," he said when he noticed her in the room, smiling at her warmly. Tante noticed that immediately.

"Remy, oh Gawd," said Rogue torn between 'Save me!' and 'God kill me now!' Luckily, Remy only saw the 'Save me!' thought she was expressing in her horrified facial features.

Remy looked confused at her panicked expression, speaking to him of undue torture and pain, begging him to save her from it all, that was until Tante Mattie continued.

"No, sorry, chile, but it's a large book. I'm sho' you'll find it," said Tante Mattie warmly, "But what's your opinion on photographs? Posed and staged or candid and spontaneous?"

"What?" asked Remy confused.

"You heard me, Remy, what's your opinion on photographs? Posed and staged or candid and spontaneous? I tend t' like candid ones, dey're so sweet and really catch a moment perfectly, but den staged photographs just have such a beautiful ethereal quality to dem. Never mind. I've got it! We'll do both, it'll be SO perfect!" she said excitedly.

He took one look of the rather life like sketch of what resembled he and Rogue dressed for a wedding with utter fear, shock and embarrassment, his eyes wide.

"What in God's name are y' doin, Tante?" asked Remy balking.

"Plannin' y' two's wedding, isn't it obvious?" she said, happily oblivious to their resemblances to goldfish at the moment.

"WHAT?" they yelled at once.

"Y' heard m', chile, planning y' wedding. D'y' like a tuxedo or a suit?" asked Tante Mattie innocently.

"Why are y' doin' dis?" Remy asked incredously, his voice high pitched and strained, in total freak out mode.

"Well, eventually, y' and Rogue'll want t' get married, so I figured I might as well give y' two a head start. Now, do we want a chocolate, vanilla or some other kind of cake? How many tiers? Two, three, four? How about ten? And do you want it to look traditional, or more contemporary?" she continued as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Tante, we're friends, we're not gettin' engaged any time soon, or ever for dat matter," exclaimed Remy.

"No offense, Tante Mattie, but what he said," agreed Rogue as they posed a united front against her, standing close together in identical hands crossed, eyes narrowed, in preparing-for-a-stand-off style positions.

"Pfft…uh huh, you just see, in two or so years, I'll be right," she said defiantly, with a dismissive hand wave, amused to see Rogue and Remy's horrified expressions.

"Look, see, y' two are already all close t'get'er. Y' look so adorable together. Y' make such a gorgeous couple. Angelina and Brad have not'in on y' two" swooned Tante.

Remy and Rogue immediately pounced away from each other as if burned, immediately after she said that, revolted, upon noticing just how close together they were.

"Okaaay, Tante, we're leaving now, excuse us," told Remy as he grabbed Rogue's arm and pulled her out of the room running as if the very fires of hell were at their heels. It was like they were in some psychological thriller movie running away from the psychopath killer. He didn't stop until he had escorted her safely to her bedroom door, getting strange looks for them along the way from several of the inhabitants.

"What in Hell's name was that, Remy?" asked Rogue in a strained voice, completely freaked.

"Hopefully, just Tante having too much t' drink, Chere," hoped Remy.

"Okay," said Rogue carefully, "Ah can accept that," as she took some deep calming breaths.

"Hopefully, it will never happen again. I'm really sorry for what she put y' through," said Remy.

"Yeah…Thanks for saving meh back thare… things reallah got out of hand," admitted Rogue.

"It's no problem, Rogue," said Remy sincerely. Rogue nodded.

"So Ah'll see ya tomorrow?" she said shyly. Remy smiled at her sweetly in return.

"Yeah, Chere," he said, brushing the stray white bangs that had dipped in her face behind her ear.

"'Night, Rem," she whispered.

"'Night," he returned as she slipped into her room. He then turned and walked to his room, contemplating the meaning of Tante Mattie's OBVIOUS lapse in good judgment. It must be the Valentine's bug. She was a hopeless romantic after all.

**

* * *

**

Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed this. Just know that I've got more that I wanted to put into this chapter, so I'll just put it in my next chapter of this fic. It started to run long, so I split it. Plus, I just really wanted to give you guys something, after going on such a long break between updates again. I really hoped you liked my little part inserted in the end there with the wedding stuff that Tante Mattie was planning. It's my favorite part. I can't believe I'm still writing stuff that I planned to do in the summer…it's embarrassing. Oh well. What can you do, eh?

UP NEXT: **CHAPTER TWELVE: EGYPTIANS**

Think of a certain river in Egypt…Anyway, Merry Christmas! Two updates in one day! Go me! The fact that I posted 'Just Need to Hear Your Voice' at 2am this morning before sleeping is not beyond me.

Thanks to all of you for reviewing, please do so again. I love them. I'll try to get the next chapter of this and URX up soon too. I love you guys. Happy Holidays and thanks for all the support.

If you get to read this chap, before I give you a response, then damn, you're quick. Santa visits y'all tonight.

simba317


	12. Egyptians

**Disclaimer:** Would I ever own a company that is ruining Romy for the masses?

**Author's Notes:** Save the Romy! Before you go any further, please go to my bio/profile and sign the petition on Romy. We will make Marvel listen to us and save the Romy.

You know when you finish a chapter and you're just brimming with ideas for the next one. Well, I had that, but then, I had this month that was weird, which really made me feel horrible, a sort of crisis where I lost my sketchbook and part of URX when they got stolen, so it was weird because I was working from ground up…I know what I want to happen, it's just I needed a big refresher. I'm just lucky that all my notes I wrote were either saved on my main computer or left forgotten at home where they lay safe in my notebooks. Luckily, from there I was able to ascertain exactly what I wanted for this chapter, which looks to be long…but I'm going to try desperately to fit it all in. It's gonna be even more conversations and moments between Rogue and Remy and the other characters and guys, yes, it's finally NOT Valentine's Day…it's February 15th, which I suppose is an unintentional nod to Ish.

Please do me a favor and go over to my bio/profile to the link to the Romy petition and sign it. Oh and Simon Kinberg, one of the writers for X3, answers questions for a forum on thexversedotcom, and when I asked if he would ever consider doing Romy, he said, yes, he loved Romy in the comics, but Remy has to get in there first…and on the French Quarter web site, two of the answers to my questions are quoted from there…yes, I'm smiling in glee! Go me! I suppose we could start a mass fan protest to Simon over at the community there…so everyone can join up…and the other writer, Zak Penn is there too…lol.

But for now, I'm kinda freaking out on how I'm gonna write this all that I have planned out…eep.

February 24th, 2006...the state of the comics.

I must rant! It's so horrible. After reading the newest news on the Romy in the comics from The Joker and the Queen Website, I'm just more and more aware about how horrible the plot in X-Men is and Peter Milligan should just NOT be handling the characters, especially when you get Remy, becoming a horseman. You know, I'm kinda not opposed to Remy becoming a horseman, it could be an interesting plot, with great character development for him and Rogue, but when you make him a horseman because he 'isn't listened to'...like WTF? I scoffed, I spat and laughed at the screen when I read the dialogue of when Remy turns sides, it's horrible. It is just the crappiest thing I have ever heard. Like no explanation like maybe he's doing it so that Rogue can have a chance with Pulse who can touch her, like he's leaving her, so she can have a chance of happiness, which would make it totally believable and just SO sweet and maybe just make us Romy fans happy. We're not asking for much, but we just want to see more justification for why you're doing this to them and that would be a sweet, incredibly ROMY way to do it.

Rogue is now this totally snappy, bitchy, weepy, sulky girl, which is not her at all, sure she feels like that, but to make her SO down in the dumps...plus, that totally lame thing with making her absorb Shiro, so she can have her old powers back, without any inclination of what's going on in her head...horrible!

And Remy is this whiney guy who does nothing to defend his woman...frankly, he looking like a wimp, not the kind of charming Remy we're used to. I just want to see him act brash or something you know? Be debonair and what not...sigh. Plus, I'm SO tired of the endless string of soap operas...it's been done before, so why don't you come up with something new, oh wait, you're Peter Milligan and you can't...Yes, that's mean, but argh! I'm just so frustrated.

The truth of the matter is, this isn't Rogue and this isn't Remy and it most certainly isn't Romy...when Mike Carey moves in with his random spew of misfits, I hope he makes a few changes to this and reintroduce Remy to the fray in a good way.

On a different note, guess how many actors in X3 are former models? Four. Yes, four. Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden. Yes, Cyke was a model, a Versace model…odd huh?

But, without further adieu, complaint or excuses…to which mostly it's procrastination and business…I give thee…

* * *

**CHAPTER 12: EGYPTIANS**

* * *

"_Good morning, Avalanche," mocked a snug, dominating voice in a cultured accent. A cruel self serving laugh followed. It was the cacophony of an off key symphony that was now his life. There was something blatantly wrong with it…but maybe if he closed his eyes, just for a little bit longer, he'd wake up to find it was all a dream. _

_But it wasn't…_

…_As he all too soon found out, when a firm grip was placed on his chin, painfully lifting his head up at an odd angle. He opened his eyes to see the man who would forever be synonymous with hell to him, General William Stryker. He had dark hair, that began showing his age in the scattering of white, and cold, steel grey eyes, that seemed almost soulless. _

"_You are very much the wraith, the street urchin, aren't you, Avalanche. No more than a half rate beggar, wanting more in your idyllic dreams, fantasies, really… but never one to follow through…You've got no respect for elders, the true disgrace of the human race, an utter failure, so of course all you do is lay there like a pathetic drugged fly, all prepared for the greater humans to manipulate every state of your future and being, you cower and shake in the slightest breath, unable to do anything but quiver in weakness and watch your legacy truly amount to nothing. For you are nothing, my dear boy, nothing, but a blemish in the great history of man, because I will it so, and so does the world," whispered his embodiment of hell, full of a hidden rage, a startling ambition and an ominous bout of foreshadowing that did nothing to quell the feeling in his stomach. The man's words were taunting, filled with smug laughter, a sardonic smile stretching his lips. _

_(To understand this passage, I suppose first of all, you have to know that in Bio, we're breeding fruit flies (Drosophila malengasgar, can't remember the species name correctly…) for genetics. Fruit flies are the animal of choice for testing genetic inheritance patterns. You're given three types of flies, normal ones, aka, the wildtype or original flies, white eyed flies and vestigial winged sepia eyed flies, and you breed the latter two with the original flies to find the inheritance patterns of the different characteristics of flies. And to do so, you obviously have to get the flies into different labeled vials and have males and females in there to do their business and lay their larvae…well, anyway, first of all, you have to dump them into a container and drug them with fly nap, which makes them go to sleep. Of course, you have a limited time to work, to figure out which are the females and which are the males, as they're only drugged for so long and during this time, when the flies start to wake up, their legs sort of twitch and that's when you know you've gotta hurry up. Flies only live for about two weeks, then they die, hence the short legacy and yeah. That's what Stryker is referring to, that he manipulates the flies, the mutants, in the sake of genetics. It's quite a burn.) _

"_But my pet, I'm about to make you more. Think of it this way, you'll finally amount to something. You were a horrible boyfriend to that naive girl, Shadowcat, I believe, a terrible son and brother, why do you think they abandoned you, and an abysmal friend and teammate to your little group of miscreants. Oh wait, you're leader, so I suppose your little bout into captivity is YOUR fault," antagonized the wrathful man, but he'd heard this too many times to care anymore, to do anything. It didn't matter anyway, he always went back to the lab, the table, the shackles, the pain, the horror…the humiliation, the shame…_

'_**This is hell, this is truly hell**,' it was a singular though running through Lance's head with no end. _

_The bed, though soft and comfortable, did nothing to soothe him, nothing did, not anymore. His room was a cell, nothing could change that and he was due for another trip to the lab and its many terrors. _

"_Give him his shot now, Gus, can't have him milling about while we do what must be done, now can we?" addressed Stryker to a smiling assistant. _

"_Of course not, General, Dr. Zaitsevitch, would not be pleased to have his subjects such a state," spoke the man behind Stryker wearing a white lab coat with easily accessible needles, clamps, scalpels and all sorts of medical items that would not be used in a kind manner beneficial to Lance's health. _

_Lance had no bearing on time, he just knew that he'd been in this place too long, but it had no end, only an unbearable continuation. He didn't even flinch, or fight back anymore as the man known to him only as Gus, came to his side and administered the drug, for he craved it, those few moments when he was gone from the world, asleep, though a cheap imitation for death, but gone nonetheless, he was away from this new set of human horrors for the history books. _

"_Behave now, little Avalanche," mocked Stryker, in a patronizing tone. _

_The needle embedded into his arm couldn't even be felt anymore from the many other pin pricks littering his upper arms and the sleep came quick, welcomed and for a few moments, it was perfect, perfect peace. _

_(I really surprised myself with this section here. I can't believe how evil I made Stryker sound…and I just really like my dialogue. Stryker seems very creepy. I must admit that he's kinda inspired by the movie version since I rewatched X2.) _

_

* * *

_

_That day, waking up that train to the bayou, I knew I should've been afraid, truly scared and frightened. I didn't even really know Remy then and he had abducted me…taken me, without my consent and I had no idea where he was taking me or what he'd make me do. He was the enemy. I knew that he could've had his damn way with me. Still, the thing is, I wasn't afraid of him and I don't know why. It was instead like this strange adventure that had grasped me suddenly and everything disappeared like I was some heroine in this fantasy novel. I felt like Sabriel and he was like my Touchstone. Even then, why did I trust his intentions? Why didn't I question it? Even then, it seemed like I trusted him, when he had given me every reason not to. I don't know if it means I'm incredibly dense and gullible or hopeful and naïve._

_For some reason, unknown to me, I just knew he wouldn't harm me and would try as hard as he could not to. Looking into his eyes, I knew I should've been afraid. They're hypnotizing, enchanting, and darkly devilish but they gave me peace, for the first time in weeks and I was surprised to find that they were beautiful, the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. His eyes were so dark, piercing, almost frightening, but they were also haunting with a pain I had never seen before and I had never seen something so alive, the way they flashed, glowed and glimmered, smoldering at me. They would twinkle at me, both filled with laughter, joy and intense heartache…and his eyes have been a specter lingering in my mind since. _

_And I'm so happy when I'm with him, I think I could burst. Remy has this hold on me. He can make me believe that anything is possible, make me hope, but I don't think he believes it himself, and I know he'd never tell me lies; it's just he's so lost. He believes in me, though, honestly and completely, and that scares me, because I think I'm going to disappoint him and I'd hate to do that. It'd just tear apart my soul to do that to him. _

_(I guess this is a response to 'Cajun Spice'. I mean, if you think about it, Rogue is captured and she's on a train headed God knows where with some guy who's intentions are probably not that great and instead of freaking out, getting scared or panicking, she just gets really mad at him…)_

_I dreamt about him last night. We weren't doing much, just laying next to the Mississippi River, on the bank of lush, long, brilliantly verdant grass and talking about stupid things like the shapes of the clouds. He lay next to me, holding my bare hand in his and with his exotic eyes gazing into the sky, full of hope and laughter, I could see what he must've looked like as a boy, carefree and just starting to be a charmer with that infectious smile. The skies were a perfect blue and the sun blazed across the sky, giving off this perfect warmth. It was sweet and wonderful, crazy even, but it was a nice fantasy and I've long known the difference between reality and fantasy. Fantasy is beautiful, fun and perfect, and reality is ugly, flawed and harsh. My reality is the worst though. But it was nice when it lasted and it was good to be able to sleep for once, really sleep and waking up made me feel restful and at peace, unlike yesterday, when it was nothing but utter dread. I guess he brings me peace. _

_And I like this, just he and I together but I shouldn't. _

_

* * *

_

_In a way, happiness for me is simple. It's Rogue next to me, as I hold her bare hand in mine as we lay on the idyllic grassy banks of the Mississippi River, listening as the water passes us by and watching the clouds intently with easy conversation, the sky is flawlessly blue and the sun casts a golden glow on everything, making her face look so utterly carefree, highlighting how magnificent she is at that moment, with that achingly beautiful smile. She looks so free, so beautiful and her porcelain skin looks like an iridescent pearl, her smooth, silky looking skin that I'd love to touch. I only wish that she'd go without that Gothic makeup more often, not that she doesn't look good with it on, it's just without it…well, it's a whole new ball game. Seeing her this way, it warms my heart, makes me feel light and gives me hope. I don't think I've felt that for a long time. It's wonderful, like last night, in my dream. But life has a funny way of making things complicated and happiness is not so simple after all. She looked so content then, so at peace with everything…_

_I knew when I woke up, it'd all be different, but in that moment, I forgot about it all and just enjoyed it. _

_She's everything I'm not. There's still hope for her. She's still innocent. Not like me, one of the tainted souls on this earth. Rogue came back. She didn't have to, but she did, which says a lot about who she is. Given the chance, she'd never turn anyone away, the right chance anyway. When I'm with her, I'm the good guy, the hero and somehow, I know I have to be good for her. She makes me good, makes me want to be good. But I'm not meant to be the hero, never was. It's not written for me. I'm a poor substitute for someone as amazing as she is. _

_But she's trapping me. Maybe she always has. It's those eyes of hers, those eyes that I've never seen before, eyes that can make your heart break, that tell me of all the suffering in her past, festering her present and lingering for her future. And when those eyes look at me, they're so alive, like the color Spring and everything's new again, they're this deep emerald, that I've come to love. I've never seen more perfect jewels than those eyes, and I've seen a lot. When she looks at me, I could die; they're so pure, they penetrate, she can see me. And I know I have to do everything in my power to preserve it. They're the eyes that look to me for something to lean on, for something to keep her going, keep her living. But I can't be that. I want to be, so desperately, but I can't. _

_I want to give this up. I want to give her up, but I can't, because that would be hell, pure and simple and I can't live it again, not when I've felt her. I may be addicted. Sometimes she makes me think that I can be good again, redeemed, but I know I can't, no matter what I do. I can't be saved. It's far too late for me. But then, she lures me in again, and she makes me believe…again. And I'm aware that, every time I'm with her, I can't help but be for a moment, just a moment be happy. It's perfect. _

_I like it, but it's a dangerous line I'm walking on. I've lead her there with me and when we fall…it will hurt like no other. _

_(This part to me, is really probably expressing all the irony, pain and torment, what their relationship is, why it's beautiful. It's the perfect romantic tragedy. And my Gosh, Remy is just so torn. Their voices just really came to me, almost like they were talking to me and I couldn't help but sense how dark everything got.) _

_

* * *

_

By the time she awoke the next morning, Kitty had disappeared to breakfast, a surprise to Rogue since Kitty was nearly as hard to wake up as she was in the early morning. Rogue was pretty sure that her roommate didn't have a scheduled session in the Danger Room…but then it clicked for her. Piotr had an early class that morning and Kitty had probably woken up early to say goodbye to him, before he left. That made her smile. The pair was so cute, and so oblivious, completely shy and constantly blushing in each other's presence it was a wonder they ever said two words to each other. Rogue thought they deserved each other though, both so compassionate, thoughtful, kind, pure, innocent, sweet and selfless.

'_Not like me.' _

Trying to conserve whatever warmth she had left in her blankets, Rogue turned to one side, in a cocooned huddled position, away from the streaks of the pale morning light. Combing her hand through her hair, she was aware of how much she needed a shower. She then flipped the blankets off and stretched her cramped body, working out all the kinks that had built out during the night. She stumbled half asleep off her bed and groggily made it to her and Kitty's bathroom, shivering slightly at the chill.

After using the toilet, brushing her teeth and hair and washing her face, she ran the water in the shower and waited for it to reach a scalding temperature, something that she could truly feel. Stripping herself of her clothing, she was aware, for the umpteenth time, as she looked into that taunting mirror, that she would never be touched. She sighed. Kitty had always said that she was one of those girls with the perfect body, not the perfect Hollywood body, mind you, it was the body that would make guys crazy, that was sexy, that was curvy, flawless and beautiful, but it was wasted on someone like her.

Wanting no more of this grief, she opened the glass door to the shower. It was a nice bathroom, somehow she and Kitty had agreed on the blue color scheme, like an imitation of the sea. The tiles lining the floor were large and a dark cerulean with baby blue metallic flakes in it. The tiles lining the shower and part of the walls were tiny and a dark blue that had a large amount of gloss and shine to it, which highly contrasted with the white porcelain of the toilet, the tub and the marble counter top which dipped to form two sinks. Visible walls were pale blue with silver streaks running through. Their large mirror was encased in an antique gilded elaborate silver frame with rhinestones artfully embedded in it that the pair had found in a hidden corner of an antique shop in town. The cabinets under the sink and embedded adjacent to the mirror were framed with frosted silver metal with a heavily frosted glass center obscuring the objects that they held. Since the cabinets had shelves on the sides, Kitty and Rogue had placed on them lots of seashells, pearls and other decorations, as well as scattering them on their countertop. All the fixtures that held up things like toilet paper and towels were silver and interesting in design.

Rogue ran her hands through her damp hair as she allowed the hot water to scald her body. Somehow, she knew that this was only way she could be touched. The water in her shower was the only thing that could touch her skin and make her feel something, anything in her skin, that seemed dead to her, but she couldn't let her thoughts keep running, for they would only lead to more despair and she couldn't handle much more than this. So she allowed herself to relax, as she massaged in her shampoo, lathering her hair, and then her body with the sweet smelling raspberry body wash and finally untangling her hair with the conditioner. It was only in the shower that she allowed herself to truly relax and be pampered, fully letting her guard down. It was a moment to herself and nobody else.

When at last she felt clean, she exited the shower and grabbed her teal colored towel, that was thick, fuzzy and infinitely warm, located beside Kitty's baby blue one. After toweling off, she wrapped it around her middle and secured it to her body, before grabbing one of her smaller teal towels to dry her hair and twirl it into a turban onto the top of her head. Taking her discarded clothes, she tossed the ones she deemed dirty into her hamper for laundry, but threw the others into one of her draws.

She then proceeded to get dressed, which found its way into today's form with a pair of black baggy cargo pants complete with, many pockets, zippers, as well as safety pins, rings, ribbons and many other various paraphernalia dangling from it. A red pleated plaid skirt that went to her knees, with a black and silver dragon embroidered on one side was worn overtop her pants that was reminiscent of an English school girl's uniform. Her tops consisted of a black long sleeved fish net style mesh shirt under a long black tunic style race back tank top, with a blood red three quarter length cotton T-shirt that stopped a few inches under her breasts that had a few artful rips in it and sleeves that were laced together with black ribbon, leaving an inch of space open in between. A pair of studded black leather belts dangled at her hips. Leather cuffs, bracelets were at her wrists, a large leather collar, as well as a Celtic cross dangling from a silver chain was on her neck. Completing her look was a form fitting black Emily the Strange hoodie with white writing on the hood, a few cats on the front, as well as Emily's pale face and a large cat face on the back and a pair of large clunky boots with many buckles.

Before slipping on her black gloves, Rogue began to brush her hair, fingering the lingering wetness, taking longer than usual, if only to delay the time when she would need to be wearing her gloves again.

CRASH!

"LEE! DRAKE! WHAT DE HELL ARE Y' DOIN'?" shouted an imposing furious voice.

"Dammit! Mission failed! ABORT ABORT! Back to the Batcave before he gets us!" someone shrieked dramatically.

"Just shut up and run, you dumbass!" bellowed a feminine voice.

Curious, Rogue slipped on her gloves quickly, dropped her brush and ran out into the hall, just in time to see Jubilee and Bobby streaking through the halls at breakneck speed, as if the very hounds of hell were on their trail, snarling and howling, nipping at their heels with their rabid mouths filled with jagged teeth. The effect was ruined by their cackling like idiots.

Littered in the hallway were hundreds of… ping pong balls?

Carefully stepping through the maze of ping pong balls, Rogue made it to the middle of the hall, where the disaster had began. A giant Ming Dynasty Chinese vase lay shattered on its side in hundreds of pieces. Rogue winced at the sight. The professor would NOT be happy to say the least, but then, he did seem to have an endless supply of them for all the ones the students had destroyed time and time again. Also within the central mess of things were an odd array of thongs, in many different colors, patterns and materials that were just plain trashy, some kitty litter, cans of coke and a pair of fins for swimming. Rogue raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

Moving on from the odd scene, she picked up some obscured muttering in French from an open door, Remy's door. Being befuddled, Rogue decided to ask Remy as to what went on.

* * *

Bellowing in an ominous voice that would make his father proud, Remy watched as Bobby and Jubilee fled the crime scene on another one of their escapades. He shook his head. He would never understand the pair…

He had awakened that morning to the sound of snickering, not just any snickering, and the snickering of Bobby and Jubilee, which was NEVER good. Damned miscreants interrupting his sleep. So, stumbling out of bed, he groggily walked to his door and peeking from it was met with an strange sight.

…Jubilee and Bobby trying to stuff as many thongs as they could into a poor expensive beautiful priceless vase.

"Dammit! We won't have enough room to put in the Twinkies to go along with the 500 trashy thongs!" cried a dismayed Bobby.

"Just stick your leg in there and compress the thongs into the bottom of the vase," suggested Jubilee.

"What! No way I'm doing THAT," backed out Bobby.

"Well you're the only one with legs long enough," explained Jubilee.

"Damn you and your dwarfism!" cried Bobby dramatically. Jubilee glared him in the way her grandmother did when the grandchildren were 'forsaking the elders and leaving them to rot in some germ infested nursing home and destroying the family honor…'

Bobby relented, "Fine, I'll take one this time…but you owe me," he started as he climbed on top of a table and began to stick his leg into the mouth of the tall vase, that could literally be used to hide a person in, and began to compress the 500 thongs…

"Jubilee, I'm, uh, stuck…" he panicked.

"Bobby! What?" asked Jubilee disbelievingly.

"I'm stuck," he repeated.

"Shit," cried Jubilee as she began to grab Bobby's arm and attempted to yank him out of the vase.

"Oww…oww, that hurts, careful…" cried Bobby in pain.

"Oh suck it up, you baby," rebutted Jubilee.

"Just because you have horrible pulling skills, doesn't mean you get to call me a baby, Lee!" cried Bobby.

"Oh please…" said Jubilee as she rolled her eyes.

"I'll have you know that—OH SHIT!" cried Bobby as he lost his balance and tumbled to the floor, along with the priceless vase which began to overturn with him….and…

CRASH!

Remy was more convinced now than ever before that Jubilee and Bobby would never learn…

Stalking deeper into his room, he pulled his shirt over his head, leaving him clad only in his boxers and flannel drawstring pants, wincing slightly as the stitches weren't used to strain, he really needed a shower after this, especially to clear his head as to what the pair had been thinking. He sighed for he could've had an extra hour or two of sleeping before he had to leave, since he didn't have classes today in the morning, but because he was woken up by Jubilee and Bobby, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Oh well.

* * *

As Rogue was just about to turn into Remy's room, she called his name, "Hey, Remy…" and finally making it into his room, was met with a very shirtless Remy LeBeau turned to see who had called his name. And suddenly Rogue was entranced with his perfect, lean, muscular, rock hard body. _'Oh damn, is saliva dangling from my chin,'_ she thought briefly, but that was replaced with some rather explicit thoughts rather quickly as her eyes raked his perfect nude upper body. His skin was tanned and had several tattoos along with a sexy nipple ring, and several scars, some deeper than others, some older, some thinner and some larger than others, showing signs of his harsh life, still, it somehow completed him and made him all the more desirable, Rogue couldn't help but lick her lips and swallow as her throat became dry.

Remy smirked at her, slyly, but suppressed a shiver of pleasure as that tongue of hers crossed her lips in an oh so sexy manner. Stalking up to her, he braced his arm against the doorframe and leaned right in front her against said arm, propping himself up for her, invading her personal space, giving her an excellent view of his…ahem…assets. His smirk grew as he saw her eyes travel the length of his body.

"Mornin', Chere," he greeted in a low husky purr and a winning smile that made Rogue's stomach flip and her heart speed up. His eyes smoldered and burned into her own, as she finally looked into them, with his hair haphazardly obscuring them slightly.

"Mornin'," squeaked Rogue shyly, a deep blush flooding her cheeks which had not yet been covered with makeup along with the rest of her face. Remy nearly sighed, she was SO utterly adorable.

Leaning close into her ear, he whispered, "Enjoyin' de view?" and he could've sworn that he saw her nod, which just about made his knees give out and thoroughly melted him. The response that he was most confident of was an even more furious blush.

Suddenly, he sucked in his breath quickly, as a sharp pain hit his side. Again with the damned stitches on his side, they were getting to be a real pain, no pun intended.

Remy watched as Rogue's sweet eyes turn from glazed over to deep concern as he clutched his left side with the seventeen stitches.

"Are ya alraht?" Rogue asked, her voice thick with worry, worry for him, which made him want to jump for joy, despite the pain in his side.

"Fine," said Remy stubbornly.

"Ya shure?" asked Rogue to confer as she fingered the neat stitching with her silk encased fingertips, which gave Remy a shot of pleasure.

"Yes, don' y' worry 'bout ol' Remy, Chere. M' fine," he responed.

She raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yes, really, Chere," said Remy giving her a warm smile as he deftly brushed strands of her wet silvery bangs out of her face and behind her ears.

She frowned, an expression of guilt and sadness crossing her features which made Remy's heart sink. She wouldn't meet his eyes as she said, "Ah just feel so bad about yesterday…and stabbin' ya…losing control…all tha damage Ah caused…tha people I heart, that care about meh…And it's all mah fault, but I cahn't do nothin' about it…and Ah'm SO sorrah…Ah just hate this! It seems lahke Ah only evah cause the people Ah care about harm…and Ah'm just SO tired of it all…Ah just wish I didn't have this….I just—" Her voice was cracking and she began to cry, which slowly tore at Remy's heart and drilled holes into it.

"Shh…Chere," he started in a soothing voice, pulling her into a tight embrace, despite his bare torso, "Please don't cry…It's not your fault…"

Her longish hair sheltered her skin from touching his as she rested her head against his chest, but still, she protested, "But…"

Remy stepped back slightly, making sure to look into her eyes to make sure she knew, because he had to reach her, "Look, Rogue, it's NOT your fault. Don't let anyone tell you differently, don't believe anything differently. I know it's hard, but you don't have control over everything that happens. We're all mutants here; we understand that, we understand that these are the kinds of things that happen with our powers. We're not all that different from you Chere, despite what you may think. I was injured, so what? I got through to you and that's all that counts and that's all I care about. I care about you," he said, with passion and sincerity burning into his eyes, "So don't apologize or feel guilty."

Rogue smiled a sweet, tentative, but genuine smile which lit up her face and Remy's heart, "Thank ya, for everything, saving me from mah mahnd, ya Tante…now…You're too good to me."

He placed a kiss on her damp head, inhaling her fresh clean scent, "Well, you deserve it, don't doubt that, Chere…and Lord help us, but sometimes we all need rescuin' when Mattie gets one of her grand schemes in her head," he said warmly and was glad to see the blush return to her face and a bright smile.

His Chere was fragile, he sometimes felt at ends that he was one of the few who could see that, this girl was NOT as strong or brave as everyone believed, she was only brave out of necessity, inside, she was quavering and weakening always and a smile was rare and to be savoured. If anything, it had become his self appointed job to make her smile and he would stop at nothing to complete his task. _'Wait...HIS Chere...' _

Remy then ruined the moment by taking a hand through her silky hair, roughly petting and pulling at it, so that the ends through in every which direction, creating a mass mess of wavy locks.

"Remy! Stop it! Do you know how frizzy yah're mahkin' mah hair!" she squealed, as she tried to escape his reach.

"Yes!" replied Remy with a loud laugh.

"Argh!" cried Rogue in frustration, "Yah're unbelievable, Remy LeBeau."

"And y' love m' fer it, Chere," replied Remy.

Struggling and stifling her laughter, she told him, "Well, don't let it get to your head." Rogue then pushed against his stomach in an attempt to get away from him, but Remy overpowered her easily. However, she did notice, as her hands skimmed just under his ribs, a certain spot fluttered against her fingertips. Curious, she tried again, and was met with the same response.

"Yah're ticklish!" she said wickedly, in surprise. Finally, she had something to use against him in the many tickle matches they had participated in.

"Non," denied Remy, giving nothing away as he continued to mess up her hair.

Unbelieving, Rogue retaliated by tickling his ticklish spot and was rewarded with Remy wriggling in a hilarious ticklish spasm trying to escape her reach. The silk gloves only worked in her advantage. Remy's assault on her hair weakened as he was forced to divert his efforts into evading her hands. He began to break into hysterical laughter, "Stop….it!" he cried in between laughter.

"NO WAY!" cried Rogue.

"Den it's war!" replied Remy.

Before she had time to react, Remy grabbed her waist and hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her like a sack and as Rogue struggled, he only laughed, "Blame only y'self, Chere!"

Remy then flung her onto his bed, where the pair broke out into a full scale tickle war, laughing, writhing and breathing hard.

"Stop, stop," squealed Rogue, having had enough of his attack.

"What d'y' say, Chere?" asked Remy evilly.

Rogue groaned in response.

"Say it, or I won't stop and y' know I won't," smirked Remy.

"Fahne. Yah're sexy and handsome and no one can resist your charm," said Rogue in a monotone voice with no conviction.

"Wit' some feeling, Chere, c'mon now. I know y' can do it," replied Remy.

"Yah're pushin' it, Swamp Rat!" exclaimed Rogue.

"Hey, aren't y' especially ticklish on y' stomach…" started Remy.

"No, NO!" panicked Rogue wide eyed.

"Say it…" pushed Remy.

"Remy, yah're the sexiest man alive and it was an obvious snub by People Magazine since ya can charm anything t' pieces!" proclaimed Rogue dramatically.

"Y' got dat right, Chere…and I'm touched, I really am," said Remy putting his hand over his heart.

"Just get off meh, befoh Ah decahde ta gouge ya eyes out…then yah'd reallah have problems bein' tha 'sexiest man alive' and the world would beh such a better place," she air quoted.

"Have y' no sense of grace, and humility, Rogue?" asked Remy dramatically with a mock hurt expression.

"Only when it comes ta narcissistic Cajuns lahke yahself, sugah," said Rogue with a laugh.

"Well that's good t' know…" said Remy, "And to t'ink, I t'ought y' inflicted y' venom on de entire population…"

"Ha ha," said Rogue, as she was still trapped underneath Remy's body, the one which hadn't moved an inch.

A silence formed between them, one that didn't seem to be noticed by either mutant. They began to become more aware of each other, his forearms on either side of her shoulders, his knees on either side of her hips, the way his bare chest and abs looked up close, the way his hair flopped over his smoldering ecstatic eyes, the way her hair looked, damp and glistening, splayed all over his blankets, the way her skin glowed in the rays of the morning light, the way her eyes sparkled with mirth and something he couldn't ascertain, the rare smile on his lips, the way his face seemed to be closing in on hers…

"Oh damn, I can't find the bologna!"

The moment was officially ruined as both their attentions centered onto the voices in the hallway and the closed door. Still, Remy remained on top of Rogue as their heads spun to the door.

"What de hell are dey up t' now?" moaned Remy, "I've really had enough of deir constant oddness 'round here…"

"Do we really wanna know? It could be more than just…odd…" said Rogue with a raised eyebrow.

"It could be worth it…" said Remy with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Rogue groaned, "This will end badly…Ah know it…"

"But think of the possibilities…dey'll never do dat again…and…the humiliations galore…" said Remy passionately.

"Alright, let's find out," said Rogue instantly, Remy brightened and smiled.

"Are ya sure that this is a good ideah, we won't get blamed will we?" she knew all too well the workings of Remy LeBeau's brain.

"OF COURSE, Chere, besides…It could be entertaining…" he said with his best smile and a wink.

"What do you have planned in that sick little mind of yours?" asked Rogue with a raised eyebrow.

"You love my sick little mind…but for the record…it's…" uttered Remy, as he leaned into her ear and whispered his devious plans.

Rogue laughed impulsively, "Oh that's brilliant…Ah love it"

"I knew y' would," said Remy with another wink.

"Great…now…GET OFF MEH, SWAMP RAT!" requested Rogue.

* * *

"What do you mean we're out of tartar sauce!" screeched Bobby, "It was a VAT of tartar sauce. Who eats a VAT of tartar sauce?"

"How should I KNOW?" asked Jubilee, accusingly, he was lucky he was cute…and funny…and sweet…and smart…and a joker…and somewhat immature…impulsive…but on the whole charming… and her best friend, who listened to her and everything she had to say, otherwise she'd never but up with this… "Besides, we've got bigger problems, our stash of Spice Girls bubble gum has disappeared…" she said completely seriously.

"What! Who would want bubble gum close to ten years old?" exclaimed Bobby, dramatically. Jubilee smiled. She had such a sweet smile, it went along well with her cute face and shiny shimmering, sleek raven hair and she was so cool, because she was the only one who knew the true mark of a prank and how to do them…the rest were amateurs, but the two of them were pros and it was nice to have someone to share that with. But other than that, she was the girl and the only person to see who was behind the jokester and that was truly special, his best friend.

"Well, look at who we live with…besides, Tabby was grounded for the past week, which meant no candy runs, and more importantly, no bubble gum runs, which means that she was low on bubble gum and probably, in desperation, stole our stash…although why on Earth do you have SPICE GIRLS bubbly gum?" reasoned Jubilee.

"Umm…well," started Bobby, his face going red, "I knew I'd have use for it in a situation JUST like THIS…Yeah, that's right, a situation, just like this one," stated Bobby.

"Riiight," replied Jubilee rolling her eyes.

"It's the truth…" said Bobby. Jubilee only gave him a look, that read, 'you can't fool me.'

"Okay, fine! Geri was HOT! She posed nude for some Turkish magazine, and Emma was all goody goody, but YOU KNEW that behind that act, was a naughty little girl that just needed some…" he began to get very into what he was saying and his eyes glazed over as if envisioning all he would do to Emma…but that was interrupted with the slamming of a door and the emergence of a pair of figures…

"Bobby…Jubilee…fancy seeing ya here…now what on Earth can ya beh possiblah doin'?" started Rogue, glaring at them with an ominous smirk.

Jubilee gulped, "Hey, guys…you know…we're just…uh…Bobby, what are we doing?"

"Filling Logan's order of 500 thongs…for uh…forgetting Valentines Day as an apology to Ororo…and the ping pong balls…the fins…they're just for some Danger Room session…we asked what they were for and everything…but Logan well, you know him…he just sorta smiled and said, 'That's fer me ta know, and ya ta find out, bub…'" stuttered Bobby with a nervous laugh.

Remy emerged from the shadows of his room, his face hidden in darkness, ruby onyx devil eyes glowing brightly…too brightly…

"What d'ya have ta say about that, Rem?" asked Rogue rhetorically, Remy only gave Jubilee and Bobby a wide smirk, his eyes locked on the misbehaving pair.

"RUN!" bellowed Bobby, but it was much too late…

* * *

A crowd was gathered in the front foyer, composed of students waiting for one of Ororo's grand breakfast feasts and a few saying goodbye to Piotr as he left with a few muffins and coffee for class. Remy's family was still asleep, as they were still a bit unaccustomed to the change in time zones.

Bobby and Jubilee casually descended the grand staircase that lead into the foyer, no one expecting anything from the pair that was overly…unusual…That is, until…

"Hey Jubilee," said Bobby, rather loudly, "Guess what? I wet my pants in bed until I was ten almost every night; I love the Care Bears and Tinky Winky; I was pantsed in seventh grade in front of my crush who told me I was small; I once ate my own poop when my brother told me that if you did, you'd get to see pigs fly; and I like you as more than a just a friend, Jubilee!"

"That's awesome, Bobby!" said Jubilee, louder than usual, "I once wore a white shirt without a bra to school, only to have water soak my shirt through in a water fight; I peed in the pool at the swimming party at the end of the summer; I told my grandmother she was being a whiney old bitch and mooching off my parents through guilting them in English, since she only understands Chinese; I love to sleep with my stuffed dog, Albert, whose real name is Mr. Stinky Poo because he likes to swim in a crappy toilet; and I too like you more than just as a friend Bobby!"

Both proclaimed their heart's desire with unparalleled joy and enthusiasm, only to the intense laughter of everyone else.

Suddenly, they snapped out of their current state.

"You peed your pants until you were ten!" screamed Jubilee.

"You did a wet T-shirt contest in school!" shouted Bobby.

Both were laughing, but then, they realized their embarrassment and what they just admitted.

"Oh my God," started Jubilee, her cheeks growing red with embarrassment, "I can't believe I said that…"

"I'm never gonna live this down…" mourned Bobby. They were both completely mortified and sinking to the floor in the wake of the gathered crowd's laughter.

"Wait," paused Jubilee, "You like me as more than a friend? Is that really true?"

"Yeah, Jubes," said Bobby shyly, looking at the floor. This day was truly horrible. First his plans fail, and then, he reveals all his darkest secrets.

"I really like you," he continued.

"Really?" asked Jubilee, needing confirmation.

Bobby nodded.

"I like you too," said Jubilee with a smile.

"Really?" asked Bobby.

"Really?" said Jubilee.

"Then will you go to 'The Life of Brian' showing at the Plaza tomorrow night?" asked Bobby shyly.

"I'd love to, Bobby," replied Jubilee sincerely with a wide grin.

"Aww…" vocalized the crowd that had witnessed the whole strange event.

Just then Ororo entered the foyer with a puzzled expression, having missed the event, but nonetheless, she announced that breakfast was ready and sheep herded the students into the breakfast nook before the food got cold.

"Vell, zhat vas interesting…" understated Kurt.

"A little odd…though, if not, strangely romantic," mused Kitty.

"Ooh!" squealed John, whipping out a notepad, "PLOT BUNNY ALERT!"

"Da…" muttered Piotr, "I must be going, I shall see you all later. Goodbye Katya."

"Bye, Piotr," said Kitty with a giggle, that was interrupted by laughter coming from a pair leaning against the railing on the second floor.

"Oh mah Gawd! That was amazing, Remy!" laughed Rogue uncontrollably.

"Well, it definitely worked better dan I expected," said Remy laughing along.

They leaned against each other, unable to stand straight from the laughter racking their bodies.

"That IS a CLASSIC. Yah're devious," admitted Rogue, trying hard to control her laughter, but failing miserably and snorting which sent Remy and her into hysterics...

"Don't I know it, dey'll never live dis down…Imagine de toast at de wedding…" trailed off Remy, tears starting to roll of the corner of his eyes as he clutched his stomach.

"Brilliant! And we finally took them out of their misery" gasped Rogue.

"No kidding, dey've been dancin' 'round dis f'r far too long…" laughed Remy.

As the pair disappeared into the halls to continue getting ready, with Remy's arm loosely hanging off Rogue's shoulder, four conspirators that had seen the exchange only filed it away into their vast arsenal to matchmaking heaven.

"Vell zhat certainly settles it…" started Kurt, but he was interrupted by a dramatic yell.

"JOHN SMELLS LIES! LIES OY SAY! THEY SURROUND JOHN!" he bellowed dramatically, falling to his knees and raising his hands to God, an overacted tormented expression on his face a la Leonardo Di Caprio in 'William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet'. (Inspired with my friend Keaton's words one summer, "Keaton smells lies.")

Kurt, Piotr and Kitty stared at him blankly.

"Hoy, everyone!" waved John excitedly and quick from the floor, a cheery smile on his face. Then something caught his eye in the window.

"…Ooh, pretty squirrel, lookit 'im dart up tat tree, now that's entertainment." (For you, Cat, for you.)

* * *

Hey, everyone, I hoped you liked this. I was gonna include some more interaction between Remy and Rogue and the others, but I sort of ran out of time, plus, I want to at least post one thing a month and it's once again, looking too long, so I cut some bits out…but there' still plenty to go, and the next chapter will show that. We have some more interesting convos and circumstances… And yeah, I know this is relatively shorter than usual...but there's lots of odd diologue...and a little drop in with Lance...I say the state of Raven is up next. Erik and the Morlocks come into play later. How bad has it gottne for her?

Hey, Spring Break is soon and so is my birthday, so you might find a quicker review than usual…but it's onward to 'URX' next…

I really hoped you enjoyed this. I had a LOT of fun with Bobby and Jubilee and I hope no one is offended by me messing with them a bit…and yes, there is a parallel there to Rogue and Remy. Also, the title sort of justified itself, really it did. To Ish, I'm SO sorry I haven't reviewed your last chapter, I've been busy…and lazy…plus, everyone started updating…and now, lookit, I am too…

UP NEXT: **CHAPTER 13: SUSPICION**

See ya around and **PLEASE SEND ME A REVIEW!**

simba317


	13. Suspicion

**Disclaimer:** Do you really think a company trying to trademark the word 'superhero' would be owned by me?

**Author's Notes:** Oh look, I'm back again! You must hate me by now…lol.

The fun continues…hehehe. Okay, well, as always, I have to say go and sign a Romy petition! And if you want, join me on thexversedotcom's forum. They're cool.

Oh, and it's the one year anniversary of this fic…wow. It's such an accomplishment…I only wish I had more chapters up for you guys, because in my mind, we should've been a lot further by now…I've also been writing on this site for just over a year now and I'd like to thank you all for reviewing and supporting me all the way through.

We see some more interaction between Remy, Rogue and the inhabitants of the mansion as well as a little band of conspirators forms. We also check in with some of the Morlocks.

Oh and CONTRIBUTE TO X3! Let's make this a Memorial Day weekend to remember and have it trump 'The Da Vinci Code' and screw over all the non-believers and make sure Fox makes an X4! It's already at 107 million. I've paid my dues, what about you? ;) :D!

And I guess I should say that I've recently been reading fics in another fandom with another equally angsty couple…although not as good as Romy…it's Michael and Maria from that canceled WB show, Roswell…It's weird, I love the angsty couples…lol. ; )

**Shout Outs:** Thanks SO much to Nettlez, musagirl15, ishie, enchantedlight, (I'm gonna guess bored247, because you didn't leave your name…), CatF, and MagCat for leaving me a review!

Wow, my shortest A/N ever….I just didn't have much to say…that may change though.

&

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: SUSPICION**

**

* * *

**

She was eight. She'd already seen and experienced great tragedy. Her life was already hard and difficult, deprived of the sun and the luxuries everyone else took for granted. So why do the least deserving of punishment, always seem gain even more while the world turns a blind eye and laughs?

Torpid's eyes widened in fear.

Screaming. They were taking another one, another one of her friends, people she cared about and soon, it'd be her. It was this again. It was the cell again. It was him again. It was an endless cycle of pain, torture, captivity and loneliness.

They never came back…

* * *

Damn stubborn pride. 

It was really all that was holding her together. That prevented her from giving her captors any kind of satisfaction when they continued to try and break her body, mind and soul. Although her body wasn't far from being over the edge, the pain had gone a long time ago. She'd stopped feeling it, it was still there, but she didn't feel it anymore. And she didn't scream. She never did. No matter who they brought in, she never screamed, she but looked at her captors with that cold gleam in her eyes, unnerving, dangerous and threatening. She didn't speak, nor did she move. But it got to them and she could tell. In this world, she could win this one battle and that was enough for her right now. It was all she could have. Defiance of an unbreakable will in the very eye of torturous pain to the very end.

For who was she, if not Raven Darkhome?

* * *

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, while those they knew suffered, some just tried to live life as normally and as fully as they could, because it was the only thing they could do and desperation is a poor friend. 

Rogue was currently rubbing some John Frieda Frizz Ease through her hair in hopes that Remy's attempt to afrolize her hair would be foiled. Kitty would flip when she realized that some of her hair care product had been used without authorization, but she'd deal with an irate Shadowcat later. Praying to whatever blow drying god existed, she prayed that today of all days would allow her hair to dry quickly for she and Remy's little excursion had delayed some precious getting ready time.

Fortunately, Remy's noogies had done some good in draining some excess water from her hair and the drying and straightening process took shorter than usual and with minutes to spare, pinned back the hair framing her face along the crown of her head, flipping out the ends a little with some hair product. Still, her silvery bangs were stubborn as always and some strands escaped to frame her face.

Then came her ritualistic make up, the line of black eyeliner, red and blue eye shadow and a wine red gloss for today. Finally, she was ready to really face the world.

Hurrying, she ran down the hallway and towards the stairs, but in her haste, she failed to see two guests making their way down to breakfast, Tessa and Lucas. One moment she was running to make sure she got some food before Kurt the vacuum ate it all, the next she was on the floor after colliding with a tall dreadlocked Bishop.

"Ugh. Umm…I'm sorrah, I didn't see ya there…kinda trahin' ta make it down before Kurt the Vacuum does his thing…ya reallah should hurry," said Rogue awkwardly as she got back up.

"Huh, what's that?" asked a confused Bishop, looking at her strangely and it wasn't just because he had noticed she was on the floor, but rather a note of understanding and filing away, an analyzation of his longtime friend Remy LeBeau, so he'd reacted rather slowly…

He was jolted from that moment when Tessa elbowed him in the stomach, "Lucas! God, apologize and help her up for God's sakes. Honestly." Lucas was wearing dark grey knit wool turtleneck sweater, that was slightly itchy and thick black cargo pants.

"I was thinking, Tess," defended Lucas.

"Sure," replied Tessa rolling her eyes. Tessa wore a black velvet blazer over top a pale blue tank top and a black V-neck long sleeved shirt. On her neck hung an ornate chocker or black glass beads, satin and blue sapphires that dangled from short chains of beads off the chocker and matched her eyes. A set of chandelier earrings matched the chocker. She finished off the look with a pair of slightly faded dark indigo flared jeans, tucked into a pair of black scrunched leather boots. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a loose bun with strands of hair framing her face. (That lovely look from X-Treme)

"Well, I was," added Lucas.

"It's never good when you think. You lose all your manners and regress to the Neanderthal man…" regarded Tessa with a smirk.

"Well, Ah'm not on tha floor anymore, so it'a all good," responded Rogue.

"Well, for the record, I'm sorry," said Bishop sincerely, "Happy Tess?" he hissed.

"That was SO ass sucking, you might as well put on a shit faced smile and become a car salesman," replied Tess in a stage whisper.

"Ah'm lahke raht here," replied Rogue with an eye roll.

"Sorry, Rogue, Lucas is a dumbass," said Tessa with a sad smile.

"Yeah, and Tessa is a bitch," quipped Lucas with a glare in Tessa's direction.

Tessa sucked in some air, rather quickly, an offended gesture and glared rather seethingly towards Lucas, in return. After about a tense ten seconds, the pair snorted and burst out in laughter.

(I know, I'm probably making them really OOC, but I really want to give them character. I really loved that in Hellfire and Brimestone about Tess…so she's kinda getting a makeover…Plus, I think it's just SO fun to make Lucas a tad anal retentive.)

"You know, we should probably stop that…people get confused," considered Lucas.

"But it's SO fun to mess with people's minds!" admitted Tessa.

"Oh fine, what the heck, I guess," said Lucas.

"Exactly," agreed Tessa.

"You two have an interesting relationship…" muttered Rogue, sarcastically.

"You have no idea, Rogue," said Tessa with a slightly maniacal smirk.

"Don't confuse the locals, Tess!" stage whispered Bishop.

"Riiight," replied Rogue.

"We'd better get to breakfast, there's a 67.974 chance that all the food will be gone in the next five minutes due to the rate of consumption and factoring in the above average rate of consumption by subject Kurt Wagner," said Tessa.

"Tessa's always right, so I'll see you two ladies at the table," said Lucas as he rushed into the kitchen's breakfast nook.

"Men and their food…" muttered Tessa with a tsk.

"Ah know tha feeling," Rogue sympathized.

"Shall we?" said Tessa with a gesture.

"Let's," replied Rogue as the two walked leisurely to the breakfast nook.

Tessa and Lucas were somewhat strange, but Rogue really did enjoy their company. They were the type of people that didn't let Remy get away with anything, especially Tess, so it was no wonder that they were Remy's oldest friends. She'd have to ask them sometime how they met. It was sure to be an interesting tale.

She had just begun stepping down the stairs when Lucas' booming and jovial voice stopped her, "Hey, Rogue?" he said.

"Yeah?" she questioned, a quizzical expression twisting her eyebrows slightly.

"If LeBeau breaks your heart, don't hesitate to tell me and I'll beat the shit out of him," said Lucas seriously, an excited expression crossed his features as he pounded a fist into his palm in a 'manly' manner, thinking of all the ways he could get back at the mischievous Cajun.

"If you could catch him first…" muttered Tessa with a groan. Why were men such idiots? Was it something genetic? Well…she could very well prove it….

Rogue's face was the epitome of shock, embarrassment and fear, "Uhh…Thanks?" she uttered in a high pitched tone.

Lucas shrugged, oblivious to her discomfort, or Tessa's sour expression, "Tante's wedding thingy is never wrong," he added nonchalantly.

"Urgh!" groaned Tessa slapping her forehead dramatically.

"Riiight," said Rogue finally, before streaking down the final steps to make her getaway in the kitchen.

"You idiot!" shouted Tessa in frustration.

"What?" asked Lucas complete innocence on his face.

Tessa just smacked him hard on the arm.

"What was that for!" screeched Lucas, rubbing the sore area on his bicep.

Tessa rubbed her temples in frustration, "Rogue and Remy are in the denial stage of their relationship, you nitwit," she seethed.

"OHHH!" stated the enlightened Bishop.

"Oh my God! You've GOT to be kidding me," started Tessa, "It's a big fat DUH! And that was just REAL SUBTLE there. I wouldn't expect them tossing bouquets or garters anytime soon. Thanks a LOT Bishop! Now they'll shy away from each other even more!"

"Well, LeBeau's an idiot," remarked Bishop defensively.

"No shit, Einstein," rebuked Tessa with venomous sarcasm.

"I resent that!" argued Lucas.

"Whatever, Grand Imbecile," finished Tessa as she gave a dismissive wave and began to climb down the stairs, not turning back to see Bishop's gaping mouthed expression.

* * *

Upon descending the stairs, Rogue headed with Remy's friends to the kitchen where the breakfast nook was located and most importantly the coffee and food. Once again, as in every morning, the kitchen was packed and loaded with hungry teenagers on the quest for stomach satisfaction. The most adventurous and diligent being one Kurt Wagner who was slopping what looked like four pancakes and waffles, bacon and hash browns all onto one plate, while still having enough room to artfully pour on the maple syrup and dallop a large helping of whipped cream along with a bit of butter. 

Rogue frowned slightly when she realized that all the Belgian waffles and bacon were gone, upon finding her seat beside Kurt and Kitty and across from Remy who was currently engaged in a 'conversation' between himself, his nephew and cousins. It was three against one in an argument over whether or not the pancakes contained cyanide of all things.

"Just wait, Jacques, in a few seconds we'll find out if de pancakes had cyanide in it when Remy drops dead and right into his plate o' food and ultimately making himself look like a total loser in front of his femme…" announced Lapin obnoxiously.

"Quit tryin' t' corrupt de chile, non?" brushed off Remy.

Jacques just giggled along with his uncles' words.

"Just you wait Jacques, anot'er ten seconds, and splat, Remy LeBeau croaks. We'll tell y' if y' femme ignores it or if she confesses her love upon y' death," added Emil.

"Shut up, Emil. Shut up, Lapin," warned Remy, not enjoying the not so subtle teasing.

"Someone's touchy today, LeBeau," announced Bishop as he sat down next to Remy.

"Well, y' didn't wake up t' ping pong balls, thongs, a priceless broken vase, and a mention of Spice Girls bubble gum and Twinkies," revealed Remy.

"I take it that was Jubilee and Bobby," assessed Sage, "Emil and Lapin are much more extravagant.

"Got it in one, Tess," said Remy.

"Well, the Emils and Lapins of the world love to follow you, LeBeau," acknowledged Lucas.

"I've noticed. If it's not Emil and Lapin, it's John, if it ain't John, it's Jubilee and Bobby. God hates me," said Remy dramatically.

"Well, someone's got to," said Tessa.

"Argh! Tess! You SO just inflated his ego. I can't believe you!" exclaimed Lucas melodramatically.

"Yes, Bish, go call the CIA, Tess inflated the infamous ego of Remy LeBeau. I mean, it's once compared to your 24/7 kiss ass," returned Tess.

"Tess, Tess, not so sizzling at the table please, we all prefer Bishop medium rare rather than burned, like a good chicken," commented Emil and once again everyone burst out laughing at the expense of Lucas.

"I NEVER win!" shouted Lucas, raising his hands in commune with God, "Why do you hate me so?" This only made everyone laugh harder.

Looking on amused, Rogue was surprised when a plate heaping with Belgian waffles, whipped cream and strawberries was presented on her spot.

"Here, Rogue, I zaved you zome of zhe waffles you like," said Kurt while he stuffed what appeared to be an entire pancake rolled into a ball into his mouth.

"Uh…Thanks Kurt," Rogue said, partly in shock to her brother's eating style and partly because he actually saved someone food and didn't horde it all for himself.

"No problem. Oh here's your coffee, just zhe vay you like it vith honey and milk," said Kurt as he handed her beloved customary coffee in a dark emerald green mug, that had glaze that changed shades with the light and had sparkles as well.

"Wow, Thanks Kurt," said Rogue dazed, staring at Kurt oddly.

"Don't zhink anyzhing of it. Aren't you gonna dig in?" he asked with a mouthful of bacon dangling from his chin.

"Huh?" said Rogue, staring at the dangling bacon, "Oh yeah, sure!"

"Oh yeah! Here's your maple syrup. It's got cinnamon in it and it's hot," said Kurt excitedly, passing her a large jug filled with steaming maple syrup.

"Thanks, Kurt," said Rogue again, feeling slightly dazed as she began to pour syrup on her waffles.

As she began to eat, Remy sent her a wink, making Rogue glare at him. He knew what was going on! Kurt was never this generous when it came to food…something was up! Despite this, Rogue continued to eat her food suspiciously. Still, it was her favourite, so not enjoying it was out of the question.

All around her people were caught up in the family atmosphere of the place and a hum of voices could be heard joyously conversing. At her end of the table, Logan sat stoically sipping his Bailey's spiked coffee, a half finished plate of food in front of him. He kept everyone in line simply with the aura he exuded which was certainly a feat considering the type of people living under one roof, placating even the most mischievous. John was sitting with Emil and Lapin, a dangerous threesome, showing them his various lighters, while Henri looked on with a slight fear…Mercy was helping Jacques eat while Tante Mattie was chatting amicably with Ororo who was beside Logan. Tessa and Kitty were conversing on CPUs while Lucas interjected every now and then with a sarcastic remark of when they were gonna talk about hair, make up, clothes and boys to which Tessa would remark, as soon as you leave. However suspicious this was, Rogue found herself enjoying her food, while she and Remy talked, well argued about the significance of her strawberries and whipped cream topped waffles as a come on. Jubilee was gossiping with Tabitha, Amara and Rahne on her upcoming date with Bobby while the boys, consisting of Sam, Jamie, Roberto, Ray, Alex, Evan and Bobby hooted about the new video game they had bought the other day, every now and then, they'd erupt into hoots and 'Dude!'. Warren and Betsy cosied up to each other and flirted beside each other as the professor watched it all with an amused smile, while talking to Hank about a new butterfly species discovered in southern Alberta by a Dr. Ted Pike. What wonderful chaos this was.

Eventually, everyone was ready to be carted off on their way to school. Most were headed to high school, while Remy and John were headed to the train and university. Hank excused himself to his lab, Logan to his errands and Ororo to show the brood from New Orleans around Bayville.

* * *

"Ah just gotta grab mah back pack befoh we leave, kay?" said Rogue as she was about to head up the stairs in the grand foyer, before heading to the attached garage. 

"Oh, I've got it for you already, Schwester," said Kurt, handing the aforementioned item to an amazed Rogue.

"Don't mention it," said Kurt with a wide grin, before Rogue could even utter a thank you, "Here's your jacket and stuff," he added handing Rogue her green down jacket, along with hat, gloves and mittens.

As Kurt went to start the car and warm it up in the cold weather, Rogue asked Kitty, "What's going on?"

An amused Kitty Pryde answered with a smile, "I don't know…"

"Ah'll get it out of ya, Katherine Rebecca Pryde, just ya wait," threatened Rogue.

"I'm sure you will Rogue," answered Kitty unphased.

Inside the garage, they found Kurt whistling happily in the back seat of their shared car.

"It's your turn to drive, Katzhen," he said.

"Yes!" exclaimed Kitty happily with a fist pump, giddily, settling her bag beside the driver's seat.

Rogue groaned, not moving from her spot in the garage.

"Oh c'mon, Rogue, I've improved," defended Kitty with a pout. It was adorable. Unfortunately, adorable didn't work on Rogue.

"If ya call crashing inta a lamp post instead of a stop sign improvement," returned Rogue.

"That was just that ONE time, besides, I was distracted by Ray and Bobby trying to flirt with random girls on the sidewalk…" explained Kitty, as if that would make a difference, "Besides, it's not like anyone got hurt…"

Rogue let out another groan.

"Let me put it this way, Rogue, you don't get in and you'll be late for first period Art, meaning that you won't be able to protect your piece when Mr. Kinsella unleashes all the morons in the class to get their work…" said Kitty, remembering all the times Rogue complained about the stupid people in her Art class that would damage her work when getting their own.

"She's right, you know…" said Kurt with a smile. Kitty looked smug. Rogue groaned.

Slinking to her and daringly dangling an arm around her shoulders, Remy LeBeau smiled charmingly at Rogue before saying, "Remy'd love t' help y', Chere, but I've got a class first thing, so y' can't bum a ride from m'."

Rogue sighed before climbing into shotgun, which was somewhat odd to her, since Kurt usually stole that seat whenever he could.

* * *

Thirty minutes and some mild excitement later, when Kitty took a turn too fast, they had arrived in school, all bright eyed a bushy tailed…right… 

Kurt greeted Amanda with a kiss, but she couldn't stay long, having to rush off to Drama for a group presentation.

Just when she was about to leave for her Art class, Kurt volunteered to help Rogue carry her extra large sketchbook, art supplies and portfolio that she refused to store in the room to class and when it ended, he met her just outside the room from Phys Ed all the way down in the depths of the basement of the school, to help her carry her things back to her locker before walking with her to Biology.

Unleashing her 920 page monster of a Biology text book, Rogue was just about to dawdle to the one class she shared with both Kurt and Kitty. To her surprise, Kurt volunteered to carry it for her on the way to class, up two flights of stairs, from first to third floor and across a winding hall way. Sure it was in his ridiculously large back pack, but still, the thing did a number on your back… He held all the doors open for her, even with his load. In class, he collected hers and Kitty's assignments and walked to the front of the class to hand it in. He grabbed the aprons, goggles and other apparatus needed for the heart dissection, allowing her to do the fun part of cutting it open, while Kitty complained about how gross and unethical it was, knowing that he wanted to do it himself.

Kurt even went as far as to lend Rogue his copy of Hamlet for English, so that she wouldn't have to go back to her locker for the forgotten book on the first floor locker before backtracking to the second floor for English. He even sprung a Tupperware container from the depths of his locker, so that his sister would have a safe box to shelter the chocolate swirl cheesecake that she and Kitty would be making in Foods class. Although perhaps that was for his own motives, and Kurt did have more than a few Tupperware containers buried in his locker from all the times he'd forget to bring them home. Although, to no one's surprise, not a speck of mould would be present in any one of them, he was the human vacuum cleaner after all.

* * *

Hours earlier, after the high schoolers had left for school, Remy was scouring the mansion with Mercy on a game of hide and seek gone bad with Jacques. He had a clear class block first thing in the morning, so he could perusal at his leisure. 

"So y' got any shiny rings in dose dept'less pockets of yours?" asked Mercy with a brilliantly teasing smile.

Remy's shoulders sagged as he let out a groan.

"Tante's intuition is never wrong, y' know dat Remy," returned Mercy.

"So maybe dis'll be de one time it'll happen and den I can gloat t' y' all at bein' de only person dat's happened to. In fact, it's not a maybe, it's a definite t'ing," replied Remy.

"Y' don' seriously believe dat, d'y'?" asked Mercy with a slight frown.

"Yes, I do, in fact, y' all are wrong," rebutted Remy.

"Now y' not bein' honest, Remy. I know y' better den dat. Is it really dat hard t' take a chance? Stop lyin' t' y'self, because right now, y're not only just hurtin' y'self. Y're hurtin' someone else too and I think y' know dat too. What's so good about dat Remy? The ball's in your court, do somethin'. But don' give up and don' leave, because den y' wouldn't be y'self anymo' and dat's all y' have right now. Y've got everyt'in t' gain and everyt'in t' lose and dat's scary, but it's wort' de risk and Remy, your de reckless gambler. De odds look good, so what's stoppin' y'?" she asked him, glancing at her wedding ring.

"Dere's more t' lose dan y' know, Mercy," said Remy, turning away from her, "Human life is merely pain and I am but one of the sufferers."

"Y' don' have t' be," she whispered.

"Yeah, I do," started Remy, "because it's what I deserve."

"Bullshit, Remy, and you know it," shouted Mercy emotionally, "Dis isn't about some sick desire t' punish y'self for every little wrong dat you've committed. It's simple, so simple. It's about a boy and a girl and what dey could have dat would be wonderful. So just stop being stubborn!"

"Except dat boy and girl don' want it and can't have it, EVER," shouted Remy through gritted teeth.

Mercy let out a humourless laugh.

"Y're not even funny anymore. Dis is pathetic," said Mercy indignantly.

"But it's what I have, what I'll always have. Why can't y' accept dat?" asked Remy.

"Because y' of all people deserve more den dis, y' just have t' take it for y'self. It's not dat hard, Remy," explained Mercy.

"I don't deserve anythin'," said Remy darkly, "Everything's dead t' me."

"Death can't stop it, it merely delays it a little while…" whispered Mercy as Remy walked off to leave Mercy to her search for Jacques.

"What?" asked Remy softly turning his head slightly.

"True love," said Mercy with definity. He stopped for a moment, before walking away, leaving her with nothing but concern in her eyes. True love. The words carried weight that would haunt him though, and maybe that would be enough.

(Well, just in case you noticed, that is definitely a Princess Bride reference. I can't remember if it's in the book, movie or both…but Westly tells Buttercup that death only delays true love a little while or something along those lines…)

* * *

"Here, Rogue, let me get zhat hot sauce for you," said Kurt as he reached across his sister to her left to grab a bottle of Tabasco from his seat to her right. 

He then proceeded to open said bottle and was about to pour it on her plate of bland cafeteria spaghetti when he stopped and asked her most considerately, in an earnest tone, "Vould you like a light spritzing or a large dallop?"

Rogue simply glared at her overhelpful brother.

"Large dallop it is," said Kurt with a look of fear in his eyes, before liberally spraying the Tabasco to her spaghetti.

"You have Social Studies and Math next, Rogue?" asked Kurt innocently.

Rogue gave him a look, then stirred the offending pasta before popping a twirled forkful into her mouth.

"Ja, I'll uh….take zhat as a yes…" Kurt said nervously, before taking his seat and setting the hot sauce to commence eating again…though a little slower than usual.

It wasn't that Kurt wasn't being sweet and kind, it was just that Rogue was starting to feel more than a little bit smothered by her brother. It had stopped being helpful and was nothing more than a large nuisance to the southerner. He was taking the whole thing much too seriously and began to do the tiniest malign tasks for her which did nothing but to annoy her…but at least it took her mind off a certain uniquely eyed Cajun with a penchant for playing cards.

* * *

Remy LeBeau loved his bike. He cherished it, yes, he cherished an inanimate object. Maybe it was because he couldn't stay still for long, couldn't stay in one place for too long, because he was a restless spirit with itchy feet, or maybe it was because he was a trained runner, an instinct embedded into his head after years of neglect from the world around him. Moments of freedom where everything was still and quiet was what sustained him he supposed in all his years and that was because of his Harley. 

He was defined by that bike as much as the bike defined him.

So that's where he was found now, taking the small country roads too fast, ignoring the ice and snow, teasing the devil dangerously on the edge of life. His only thought was that he missed having a certain pair of arms wrapped around him, taking her along for the ride, where they could both forget and not think and have all the nuisances that came with thought. But it was only him now, and he was okay with that, he always was, for the most part. Because where he went, the places he'd been to, where places where only he could enter alone. Perhaps not by choice, but it was his way and he had yet to break that habit or whatever it was; it was easier to be sure. Maybe he was lonely, but he had resigned himself to that fate a long time ago, until it was nothing more than a dull ache suppressed to the recesses of his mind.

He had driven the bike to university that grey morning instead of taking the train from the station. He liked his solitude…or so he liked to think. Focus had waned in his classes, he came late, but he didn't much care today and he only wanted to be back on his bike again, to be carried away, so he wouldn't have to think, so he could be numb and unfeeling. So his powers were a curse sometimes, because it was impossible. But then, Fate had never been particularly kind to him. His life was evidence of that.

But he was going home now…even though he didn't really want to…he never even thought he'd have one, a place that he once called home was tainted now…but somehow, for some reason, he had to return, because whether or not he acknowledged it or not, his roots lay there, roots that were pulling him in, closer all the time.

His only regret, when he slid into the garage without a single squeal of tires, was that he'd be burdened by thought now and the contemplations set in motion by one Mercy LeBeau.

And oh how he hated that Fate placed her in the room at the same time he was. Sometimes Lady Luck couldn't help him, like with matters of his heart.

* * *

The door to the garage opened and slammed shut as quickly as it had been opened and a small figure scurried through to lock the door with a single sigh of relief as she leaned her tired body on the door and slid into a sitting position on the scuffed floor of the garage where an army of exotic cars lay glinting in slight mockery to her. 

"Finally escaped Kurt's 'Devote to Rogue Day', eh?" said a scruffy voice from underneath a charcoal grey Prius, a muttering followed along the lines of "Jesus 'Ro, it's about time you changed the oil…"

Rogue simply glared at the lower torso of the body extended from the Prius.

A few seconds later and a few tinkerings of the car, a greasy and grimy Logan emerged from the vehicle, wiping his oily hands on a rag.

Logan saw her look of death she was giving him and rolled his eyes, "Oh c'mon, Stripes, Elf was just being nice."

"There is such a thing as being too nahce, I know that now…" said Rogue with narrowed eyes.

Logan stared at her blankly before going to his prized motorcycle, his baby. No one knew, but her name was Rosette. She hadn't been purring right like she usually did, the snow and slush wreaked havoc on her exhaust, but he couldn't bare to leave her cooped up in a garage.

"He became a second shadow! If Ah wanted a personal slave, I would've got one, but dammit, Ah am NOT an invalid! Ah do NOT need someone to put hot sauce on mah spaghetti!" ranted Rogue…Logan just listened to her shouting. He figured as much would happen when Kurt came up with his brilliant idea at the breakfast table. He shook his head and smiled. Rogue was independent, a do-it-all-yourself type of girl and she hated being smothered.

Just when she as about to reach her tenth minute straight of rage, Logan decided to put a stop to it. His ears were sensitve after all...and she had crescendoed to a rather painful decible.

"Look, he cares about you, I care about you. We all care about you..." grumbled Logan from beneath his motorcycle.

"Wow, now let's all join hands and sing Kumbaya..." said Rogue sarcastically.

"You get the point, right?" asked Logan, as he twisted a wrench.

"Yeah. You know, you're REALLY bad at this..." responded Rogue.

Just as Logan was about to reply, a blast of cold air and the noise of a loud motorcycle engine alerted her to another person, entering the garage, him, and suddenly, her tirade was over and the fury was forgotten.

The movements as he dismounted his equally precious Harley were smooth and fluid and she couldn't help but notice them and the flying off his hair as he pulled his helmet off and shook his head, letting his hair free. He barely acknowledged hers and Logan's presence in the garage except for a small nod as he put away the helmet and grabbed his things to head to the entrance to the mansion.

Just when Rogue thought he would leave her in peace for once, he uttered a greeting, though it seemed his mind was elsewhere, he regarded her with a single look revealing nothing, "Chere."

"Remy," she returned back with a poker face just as strong.

It was like an unspoken challenge to see who would break first, who would flinch, an endless game of chicken. And then, the game was over, and neither won, and he walked away out of her line of sight.

Logan scoffed, disgusted, having heard the whole exchange from under his bike, "So it's single words now…well, at least it's better than a verbal pissing match…"

"He starts it!" she defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And ya just have ta respond, I would tell you to pick your battles, but obviously, you don't," rebuked Logan.

"Who says Ah get ta chose, especially when he comes around?" questioned Rogue.

"I guess I have to say this again: You always have a choice and you always make a decision, but listen," started Logan, it seemed he only ever offered up his free advice to her in particular, "Supressing and ignoring your feelings and emotions is harder and more painful than giving into them, take it from someone who knows, Stripes, trust me." He sent her an intense look and once again, Rogue knew he understood, but in many ways, he would never understand her, couldn't and he never would. He wasn't a teenage girl who couldn't touch.

"But it's the best that I can do," she whispered and with that, she grabbed a coat she had left in the garage, along with her keys dangling on a set of hooks on a wall, the emergency keys for every car or vehicle in the mansion, got in her car and set out on a drive to clear her head. Although, she couldn't help but think it wasn't his motorcycle and that the company was sorely lacking.

* * *

Remy stormed through the halls of the mansion, trying to get to his room, the tail of his trench coat trailing after him dramatically, an aura of contained violence and melancholy filled the room and followed in his wake, telling all who saw him to stay away. 

His cousins had other ideas.

"Hello, Cousin," smiled Emil brightly.

"Oh, how goes t'ings Cousin?" greeted Lapin with equal happiness.

Remy wondered why on earth, he knew so many people like John…

"I'm not in de mood, go bug Henri," barked Remy, glaring at them dangerously, lesser men would have backed off, smarter for that matter…

"She did de freaky ages-pre wedding planning thing and it's ALWAYS right. Look at Henri and Mercy. I mean, sure, dey were actually a couple when she did dat…but it's never been wrong, Remy," babbled Emil in a whiney tone and before he could stop the boy, Lapin continued.

"She doesn't do dat for just anyone. You've brought plenty of filles home and she's never done dat t' any of them. In fact, she jus' glared at dem, and waved her butcher knife around a lot…" continued Lapin at a rapid speed.

"I don't have any time for y' games," said Remy acidly as he stalked past them, up the stairs to his room.

"SOMEONE NEEDS T' GET LAID!" shouted the twins in unison after him.

"He should be in a perfume commercial with all dat brooding…" mumbled Lapin.

"Oh lookit me, I'm all pretty in excessively expensive cloth'in an' m' life sucks, buy Hugo Boss!" mocked Emil in a high pitched girly voice and mocking gestures.

The twins walked to the kitchen strutting and laughing at Remy's expense…

(that is definitely from reading the sequel to Mix n' Match this morning...)

* * *

Okay, here we go! Another chappie, all done! Yay! 

GO SEE X3! Anything to bring Remy into X4, besides, it's GOOD, trust me, and stay in the theatre after the credits roll, it's worth it and you'll feel smug!

I hope you guys enjoyed that…but wow, this thing's been milling about since like March, so it's good to get it out…

Please REVIEW! I'll get to any forgotten review replies soon! URX will be up soon, I know some of you are DYING do know what that chapter title means...; )

**UP NEXT: CHPATER FOURTEEN: EDGES**

It's taking me FOREVER to get to what I've planned a year ago...I keep on getting side tracked and inserting things...oh well, they're good...

simba317


End file.
